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PROCEEDINGS 



Centennial Anniversary 



Presbyterian Church at Sparta, N. J., 



November 23, 1886, 



TOGETHER WITH 



A HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE 



Rev. THEODORE F. CHAMBERS. 



NEW YORK : 
THE WILLIAMS PRINTING COMPANY, 

66 AND 63 DUANE Strkkt. 

1887. 






^ "i 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Preface . . . . . . . 6 

Order of Exercises . . . . .7 

Historical Sermon . . . . . . 8 

Address of Rev. J. C. Clyde, d.d. . . .27 

Address of Rev. A. A. Haines . . . . 33 

Appendix: I. Revivals and Church Work . . 43 

" II. Ministers . . . . . 49 

" III. Elders . . . . .58 

" TV. Trustees and Church Edifice . . 60 

" V. OgdensburctII . . . .66 

'' YI. Ogden Genealogy ... .69 

" YII. History of I^orth Hardyston Church 72 

" YIII. Other Religious Bodies . . .76 

" IX. Proprietary Transfers, with Map 

of Church Lands . . .81 

'' X. Early Settlers and History of the 

YlLLAGE . . . . . 85 

" XT. List of Church Members from the 

Beginning .... 101 



JPRKKACK. 



The main end in view in writing this volume was to awaken 
greater attachment to the old church whose history it records. 
The unusual number of ministers that have served it has 
rendered it more difficult to give a complete record of each ; 
and yet this has been done with but two exceptions, the 
licentiate Oliver Green not being counted. As it is local his- 
tory, no explanation will be needed of the prominence given to 
tliose whose lives were confined within narrow limits. To a 
pastor, nothing is trivial, and no life unimportant that his 
services can reach or his sympathies recognize. In regard to 
another part it may be remarked that even an erroneous 
belief may be sincere, and an opposing worship one that needs 
to be known and taken account of. Nothing has been dis- 
covered to take aught from tlie repute of the great and good 
man, who, coming from a populous town and surroundings of 
comparative comfort, could yet Und time to establish the 
worship of God on this sparsely settled frontier. May his 
memory ever be kept green, that his exaiftple may provoke 
more and more unto similar faithfulness and devotion. 

Warm recognition is due to Mr. A. C. Tully for the loan of 
valuable books and of almost indispensable assistance, and the 
Hon. Edmund Halsey, of Rockaway, Dr. Tuttle, of Wabash 
College, whose annals of Morris County are unapproached in 
their line ; Dr. S. D. Alexander, of New York City, and Hol- 
loway W. Hunt, Esq., of Schooley's Mountain ; and numerous 
other correspondents, most of them perfect strangers, have 
shown unstinted courtesy and kindness. Without their help, 
so freely rendered, this history could not have been at all com- 
plete or satisfactory. Rev. Amzi L. Armstrong, of Dutch 



6 PREFACE. 

Neck, ami the Stated Clerks of the Montrose and the Tombeck- 
bee presbyteries, aB well as the ever-obliging pastor at Oxford 
Fnrnacc, have patiently explored old records and cheerfully 
added their assistance. 

The share which the Rev. A. A. Haines, of Hamburg, has 
had in this work is too large to be estimated or 'particularized. 
Free use has been made throughout of the History of Sussex 
and Warren, and of every other available work on the history 
of the county or the State. Names have been spelled in each 
case as they were in the records. The errors and omissions 
that may be discovered will not be due to any conscious lack of 
care or labor. 

May this eflEort, closing a short pastorate, be blessed by the 
Great Head of the Church to a kind and beloved people. 

Sparta, N. J., January Zlst, 1887. 



ORDKR OK BXKRCISKS. 



TUESDA.Y, NOVEMBER 23, 1886. 



AFTERNOON. 

REV. THOMAS TYAOK, PRESIDING. 

DoxOLOGY. — " Praise God, from whom all blessings flow." 

Invocatiom — By Rev. Thomas Tyack. 

Htmn 766. — " Pour out thy Spirit from on high." 

ScRiPrxTRE Reading, 84th Psalm. — By Rev. J. C. Clyde, D. D. 

Prayer — By Rev. Baker Smith. 

Hymn 566. — "Love divine, all love excelling." 

Historical, Sermon — By the Pastor, Rev. T. F. Chambers. 

Anthem — " Blessed be the name of the Lord." 

Address. — Rev. Thomas Tyack. 

Prayer. — Rev. Dr. Clyde. Thank-offerings. 

Hymn 368. — "Come, Holy Ghost ! in love." 

Benediction. 

EVENING. 

REV. T. F. CHAMBEaS, PRESIDING. 

Anthbm. — Is. 2 : 2. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the 
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mount- 
ains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto it. 

Prayer — Rev. Thomas Tyack. 

Hymn 191. — " Lord of all being ! throned afar." 

Historical Address. — Rev. Dr. Clyde. Our Surroundings in Colonial 
Days. 

Anthem. — " Bless the Lord, O my Soul." 

Address — Local History. Rev. Alanson A. Haines. 

Hymn 563. — " How firm a foundation, ye Saiats of the Lord." 

Prayer— By Rev. T. F. Chambers. 

Hymn 753. — "Gloriom things of thee are spoken." 

Bbnsdiction. 



HISTORICAL SEEMON. 



BY THE PASTOR. 



I Cor. i6 : 19. " Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with 
the church that is in their house." 

The founders of the Christian Church were simply men. Of 
the truth, Christ is the chief corner-stone, but the foundation 
is that of the apostles and prophets. Therefore tlie characters 
and careers of those who had to do with the first things of the 
Christian Church are not suffered to sink out of sight. The 
biographies of Old Testament writ, the roll of honor in the 
eleventh of Hebrews, the instinctiv-e assent to memorials of 
departed saints on the part of Christian people of all ages, prove 
this. We have no saints' days and do not propose to have any. 
But we stop far short of this, and only follow Scripture when 
we cherish the memory and exalt the fame of the sainted dead. 
Indeed, the Epistles would not be complete without introducing 
us as they do to that circle of loving companions who were the 
body-guard of the great apostle, and at one time the forlorn 
hope of the cause. 

The two friends of Paul whom he mentions in the text were 
deserving of remembrance both for their character and their 
work ; for they each exemplified most clearly a rare combina- 
tion of intelligence and zeal. That they were carefully in- 
structed we know, because it was they who taught Apollos, an 
eloquent man himself, the better way, or fuller teaching, he 
having received only the baptism of John. And of their zeal 
we need no further testimony than Paul's own, when he sends 
greeting to them at Rome in the words (Rom. 16 : 3, 4) " Greet 
Priscilla and Aquila, my lielpers in Christ Jesus : who have 
for my life laid down their own necks : unto whom not only I 
give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles." And 



IIISTOKICAL SKiaiON. 9 

that is not all, for their devotion and zeal were such that thej 
had a church in their own house. In order to be sure of the 
promise of the Psalmist, " Blessed are all they that dwell in 
thy house," they brought the house of God to their own home, 
or, more properly, consecrated their own place of abode to the 
public as well as private sacrilices of praise. Consecration and 
zeal of this unmingled kind is what every church needs, and 
especially in its weak and uncertain beginning. For the home 
is as truly necessary to the church as the church is to the 
home. Indeed to give an infant church the benefit of the 
fervor, sincerity and simplicity so natural to the home, is per- 
haps to rescue it from speedy death, and to insure to it most 
certain life and vigor. This high service was what Aquila and 
Priscilla so naturally rendered to the church that was in their 
house. No less helpful to the great apostle was their cheerful 
hospitality. For what encouragement and refreshment must 
have awaited Paul at Corinth in the home where Aquila and 
Priscilla carried on their humble trade of tent-making, and at 
the same time acted as guardians of the lamp of life, lighted in 
their own family circle and made to spread far and near among 
the dying souls around about them ! 

But we need not draw upon imagination for descriptions of 
loving service rendered in the home by those who consecrated 
their hearths as well as their hearts to the worship of God. 
"We have a Priscilla and Aquila of later date, and so near to us, 
yes, and so dear to us, that we can almost see for ourselves the 
beauty and blessedness of their godly example. The home 
where young Barnabas King received his first welcome inte 
these then desert places; the loving hands that nursed another 
youthful j^reacher, a stranger from the east, Oliver Green by 
name, and laid his lifeless body away to rest behind this church, 
where he had only begun to proclaim the gospel of peace, was 
a home where hearts were large enough and sympathies broad 
enough to minister to all who loved Christ and had entered 
into His fellowship. 



10 HISTORICAL SERMON. 

It is comparatively easy, though after all not so common, to 
help on a g0(jd cause after it has received a fair start ; but to 
take all the resi)un.sil)ility, to assume all the risk of inaugurat- 
ing a new and ditHcuIt work, with dependence only, under 
God, upon one's self — this is to be a hero, a man for emergen- 
cies, a b^rn leader of men, and one wdio can never be found 
wanting. Such was Robkrt Ogdkn, wnth his no less worthy 
helpmate. Phkhk IIatfikld. 

In the record of the first meeting held to organize the church 
oi' Ilardyston, which was the name by wdiich this church was 
then called, the residence of Robert Ogden, Esq., is spoken of as 
" tlio present and most usual place of meeting of said con- 
gregation " This was on November 23, 17S6. And it is said 
by good authorit}' that meetings were held and preaching 
services conducted from the year 1780. And the regular or- 
ganization was undoubtedly an outgrowth of the godly zeal of 
the above Robert Ogden and his wife. It was he who offered 
prayer, kneeling down in the sleigh, before Noah Talmage 
made the first stroke in felling the timber of the first church 
building for Presbyterian service in this country. Yellow 
Frame excepted. Robert Ogden. Sr., died in 1787, and lies 
buried beside his wife in the rear of the church of M'hich he 
Avas the true father. Put his son, Robert Ogden, called in his 
time " the honest lawyer," carried on his father's work. And 
he was not less sparing of personal service than of his private 
means ; and, but for his help, it is questionable wdiether the 
enterprise could have overcome the pecuniary and other ob- 
stacles M'hich confronted it at the time of its incei)tion ; for 
this was only three years after the close of the Revolutionary 
war. The whole country, and especially the State of New 
Jersey, was greatly impoverished. "When all that could be, had 
been bought for the army, then teams and grain, fuel and food, 
were impressed into the service under circumstances that justi- 
fied such extreme measures, though they did not render the 
exactions more easy to be borne. An inflated currency, which 



HISTORICAL SERMON. 11 

made a pair of boots worth, in 178 1, $600; and 6f yards of 
calico, $752, of Continental money ; and four handkerchiefs, 
$400 ; added to the difficnlty of doing business, or even gain- 
ing a livelihood. And the moral difhc ulties were even greater. 
For seven years the whole country had been continually in an 
unsettled condition, A large proportion of the more active, 
enterprising and patriotic had been subjected to the inevitable 
demoralization of camp life. Disease and immorality were 
thus afforded a rare opportunity to develop and spread. More- 
over, infidelity had received from the French officers an im- 
petus among us which it could not otherwise have had. 

The early settlers in this region are said to have been pre-emi- 
nently free from intemperance. But even before the Kevolution 
this fatal appetite had spread to an alarming extent, and, as usual, 
carried with it a host of evils. It was because of such hin- 
drances, perhaps, that the Presbyterian church of Newton, in 
keeping with the lax oj^inion of gambling in that day, had to 
seek pecuniary relief, in 1787, by means of a public lottery, 
the proceeds of which were to be divided between themselves 
and Princeton College ; for that church was at first in great 
financial straits and harassed for years by suits for ai'rears of 
salary. Judging by the few records in our old trustee book, 
going back to 1790, the first church of Hardyston succeeded in 
paying its way, though not with the same promptness that it 
has attempted to reach since. But we must not forget that one 
explanation of this fortunate state of affairs was that the presi- 
dent of our board of trustees at that time was also treasurer, 
and by an unexampled liberality induced the Rev. Holloway 
W. Hunt to remain in this section, for at least seven years, by 
the gift, in payment for his services, of a portion of the farm 
now occupied by Elder Job Cory. 

This Robert Ogden, Jr., also acted as elder of tlie church 
until his death in 1826. His nephew, Matthias II. Ogden, 
occupied the same useful position. The father of our church, 
Robert, Sr., was the son of Robert and the grandson of Jon 



12 HISTORICAL SERMON. 

atliaii, wiu) was son of John, one of the original settlers ot 
Elizubethtown. Each generation of the first four was repre- 
sented in some of the most important positions in puldic life. 
The subject of our present reference had two sons of consid- 
erable eminence — viz , Gen. Matthias Ogden, very active and 
efficient in the war of the lievolution, and Col. Aaron Ogden. 
The latter, who enlisted very early and became quite prominent 
in the war, served in the Senate of the United States 1801- 
1803, and was elected Governor of New Jersey in 1812. His 
father had been member of the Council and Speaker of the 
Assembly. The whole family seem to have been men of ca- 
pacity, public spirit and unquestioned integrity. 

Reference has already been made to the minutes of the 
meeting at which the church was organized. They are found 
on record at the Clerk's office, and read as follows: 

" At a meeting of the Presbyterian congregation in Ilardis- 
ton, in the county of Sussex, holden at the dwelling house of 
Rob. Ogden, Esq., the present and most usual place of meeting 
of said congregation, on Thursday, the twenty-third day of 
November, A. D. 1786, in order to form a body corporate and 
choose trustees, agreeably to the act of the Legislature of this 
State, passed the tenth day of March, 1786, due notice having 
been given by advertisements agreeable to the directions of said 
act. A sermon was ])n'ached by the Rev. Jas. Wilson previous 
to the election. 

" The meeting then proceeded to business and chose Rob. 
Ogden, Esq., moderator ; Rob. Ogden, Jr., clerk. The mod- 
erator and clerk being chosen, the meeting proceeded to the 
choice of trustees, when the following gentlemen were elected : 
Rob. Ogden, Esq., Christopher lloagland, Esq., Charles Beards- 
lee, Esq., Christopher Longstreet, Ja])het Byram, Rob. Ogden, 
Jr., Esq., Thomas Van Kirk, Esq. 

" I certify the above proceedings to be regular and true. 

" Rob. Ogden, Moderator. 

" At a meeting of the trustees of the First Presbyterian 



HISTORICAL SERMON. 13 

Church, in Hardiston, in tlie county of Sussex, at the Ijonse of 
Rob. Ogden, Esq., on Thursday, the twenty-third of November, 
A. D. 1786, present Rob. Ogden, Japhet Byrani, Thomas Yan 
Kirk, Esq., Christopher Hoagland, Esq., Rob. Ogden, Jr., the 
said trustees having taken their oaths of allegiance and abjura- 
tion, and also an oath for the faithful performance of their 
duty agreeable to the directions of the act of the Legislature of 
this State, passed the tenth day of March, A. D. 1786, took and 
assumed upon themselves the name and title of the First Pres- 
byterian Church in Hardiston, and unanimously chose Rob. 
Ogden, Jr., Esq., president of the board of trustees. 

" Rob. Ogden, Jr., President, [ ss. ] Japhet Byram, Thomas 
Yan Kirk, Cliristo]3her Hoagland, Robert Ogden. 

" Recorded 27th November, 1786. Rhodes, Clerk." 

We have in this a certain and reliable date for the origin of 
our church, but it would not be altogether amiss to date it back 
to the time when it was in the house of Robert Ogden. This 
was perhaps as early as 1780. Robert Ogden, Sr., did not 
come to Sussex County earlier than October 6th, 1776, and 
not later than 1777. He was kept aw^ay by the near approach 
of the British troops, and by a just fear of irresponsible maraud- 
ing parties who carried havoc and slaughter among both friends 
and foes. 

The first church of Hardyston was built on land (to the ex- 
tent of 5-4 acres) given for that purpose by the proprietaries of 
New Jersey. For some years it was a mere shell of frame, roofed 
and weather-boarded, with roughly hewn seats for the wor- 
shippers. The galleries and steeple were added about 1804. 
The original frame remains to-day, apparently as strong as 
when first put together. The church has been twice repaired, 
once in 1837, at a cost of $1500 ; and a second time, in 1869, at 
a cost of $4000. The original members of the church are sup- 
posed to have numbered ten, and to have been named as follows : 
Christian Clay, Mary Clay, his wife ; Jonathan Sutton, Robert 
Ogden, Jonathan Sharp, Jane Mills, wife of Robert Mills ; 



14 HISTORICAL SERMON. 

!N[:irv Johnson, wife of Antlrew Johnson ; Gabriel Paine, John: 
Linn, and Martha, his wife. April 8, 1810, there were 40 on 
the roll. May 14, 1819, there were 99 active members of the 
church, and 49 of them were dismissed to form the church of 
North Ilardiston, and 13 to form that of Hamburg; leaving 37 
to continue the First Church of Hardiston. In 1828, there 
were 64, and on January 1, 1839, 134. 

Let us try for a moment to realize how long ago it was when 
this church was organized ; not merely in time, but in moral dis- 
tance, as shown by difference of manners and customs. The Pres- 
byterian denomination, as then organized, was represented by 
the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. It was soon found 
necessary to have a higher representative body, or General 
Assembly, as in the Church of Scotland. Accordingly, in May, 
1789, the first General Assembly met, at the same time as the 
first Congress of the United States under the Constitution. 
Another note of time, of a different character, is found in the 
fact, as declared, that there were not five acres planted in 
Indian corn in the whole county, and that t'mothy and clover 
were not introduced until later. In 1791 there were only six 
post-ofKces in New Jersey — viz., Newark, Elizabethtown, Bridge- 
ton (now Rahway), Brunswick, Princeton, Trenton ; and §530 
inchuled their whole receipts. In 1780 land is said to have 
b(j|#^|j^^4]jlfere%; parts of Wantage for from §1 to $5 an 
aci^^nd one farm s(^d for one pound of tea for each apple tree 
upon it. In 1801, Mlirch 9, the first turnpike in New Jersey 
was authorized by the Legislature, from Elizabethtown through 
Morristown to Milford, by way of Newton and Culver's Gap; 
in 1804, another froni Morristown to Sparta, and a third in 
1800, from Sparta through Culver's Gap to the Delaware. 
About the time of the Revolution there were very few, if any, 
wagon roads. p]vervtliing was carried on the backs of beasts 
of burden. Farming was of the most primitive character, and 
everything else was in keeping with it. Ministers' salaries were 
paid largely in produce, and church services, under the best cir- 



HISTORICAL 8EKMON. 15 

cumstances, were very few and far between. One preacher had 
to suffice for three or four congregations, ten, twenty or even 
more miles apart. It may not be out of place here to quote a 
letter written in 1771, from Newton, by the Rev. Uzal Ogden, 
the first Episcopal minister of this county. lie began his 
labors there proljably about 1769. In 1773 he had to go to 
England to be ordained, and in 1779 was called to the Trinity 
Church, of Newark. In 1799 he was elected a bishop in the 
Episcopal cLurch, but through some irregularity in the election 
he was not consecrated to that office. Owing' to some misun- 
derstanding he lost favor with his denomination, and in 1805« be- 
came a very zealous Presbyterian minister. {Sjyrague's Annals.) 
He was a man of irreproachable character, and, July 8, 1771, 
writes to the missionary society to whom he owed his support 
as follows. After speaking of the differences of religious 
opinion among the people, he continues : " The people being 
thus remarkably divided, disables almost every sect from sup- 
porting the Gospel ; so that in a country where there are in- 
habitants sufficient to support several clergymen, there is but a 
single illiterate separate [i. e., dissenting] preacher residing in 
it." He then goes on to give an account of his preaching 
services, and says that he preaches in New Town, in the (.'ourt 
House ; at Knowl Town, in a convenient building in cold 
weather, l)Ut in the open air in sumnier; at Roxbury, Morris 
County, in a barn ; and at Hackettstown, in the Presbyterian 
meeting-house. He tiieti concludes as follows : ' Besides 
officiating at the several places above mentioned, I liave had, 
and coui2)lied with, divers invitations to read pravers and a 
sermon on week days, in some of the meeting-houses and 
dwellings of dissenters, who, of every deiioiiiiiiation, attend 
church in great numbers on Sunday, and behave very decentlv." 
{Proc. Ills. /Soc, 1845 cmd 185U, ^>. 152.) 

Of course people of that early day and long after went to 
church on horseback, took their dinner along and stayed to a 
second service. This was long before Fulton's steamljoat (1807)^ 



16 HISTORICAL 6ERMON. 

and the first telegraph (ISl-i), the first railroad for passengers 
(1829), the Baltimore and Ohio. The number of inhabitants 
to the square mile in New Jersey in 1790 was 24.7 ; now it 
is 161.7. That is to say, tliere was only one-sixth the density 
of population there is now. About the time our church was 
or«>-anized, the only vehicles used for agricultural purposes 
were sleds in winter, and, in summer, " ox-carts of rude con- 
struction, with wheels sawed from large butts, having holes 
made in their centers to receive the axle. About 1813, the 
chair and gig were introduced and used until the light four- 
wheeled carriage appeared and superseded them." {Edsall, 
p. 71.) 

Although the population of the county rapidly increased, and 
more rapidly than in the neighboring counties, yet in 1761, 
when the Court House was ordered to be erected in Newton, 
Henry Harelocker, a German, was the only resident within the 
present limits of Newton. At first this part of the State was 
included in Morris County ; then what was called Sussex 
County was formed in 1753, including what was set off, in 
1824, and made Warren County. 

It was during the Revolutionary war that Robert Ogden, 
Sr , was robbed by '' Moody's gang." This person, Bonnell 
Moody by name, had been a peaceable farmer (according to 
hie biography, published after the war in London), until he 
enlisted in the English army. He then became a spy, and with 
a party of not more than six or seven, undertook marauding 
operations independently of the regular forces. He several 
times succeeded in robbing messengers of important dispatches, 
and even undertook at one time, with the aid of a man who 
had been employed at the State House, to steal the archives of 
Congress. The above-mentioned incident in his career, very 
interesting to us, though not quite so much so to the parties in- 
volved in it, connects this notorious man with our own neigh- 
borhood. " One cold night in winter he suddenly entered the 
house of Mr. Ogden," who lived on the road to Ogdensburg, 



HISTOKICAL SERMON. 17 

not far from the present Fowler property. " He robbed the 
house of considerable valuable plate, and searched the house for 
money ; but was disappointed in not obtaining the amount he 
thought to be in the old gentleman's possession. He then 
took him out back of the house, and forced him to take an oath 
not to make known his visit until sufficient time had elapsed 
for himself and a few followers to escape pursuit." — Collections^ 
jp. 476. [But see a more correct version in Mr Haines's ad- 
dress.] The alarm was sounded, however, by one or two hired 
men who had been concealed in the upper part of the loo- 
house. A small party of neighbors gave chase, and some of the 
booty was recovered near Goshen. The log house referred to 
in this narrative was built in 1777, according to a date which 
one of our elders, Mr. J. B. Hoppaugh, remembers seeing on 
it. It stood across the road, on the hill, a little to the south of 
a spot exactly opposite to the present HojDpaugh residence. 
Although built of heavy logs, fitted and framed together, it 
was clapboarded on the outside, and lathed and plastered witli- 
in. After the robbery, Mr. Ogden made doors and shutters of 
two-inch planks, and fastened them with strong iron bars. 

This house burned down in 1845. The frame of another 
house, built either afterward or at the same time, still remains 
on the Fowler place in the hotise there used as a residence. A 
third house was erected just under the hill below the Hoj^paugh 
house. 

Robert Ogden, Sr., left two sons residing here, Elias and 
Robert. The latter \vas admitted to the bar of Sussex in 
1778, and died 1826. Major Elias dealt more in iron-mining 
and forging. 

But we must resist the temptation to recount the interesting 
history of secular matters, and give the rest of our time to the 
annals of our church. As a more detailed and precise history 
will probably be published, it will be necessary only to give a 
general review of the hundred j^ears of our church's existence. 
The sources of our information are, first, an old trustee's 

(2) 



18 HISTORICAL SERMON. 

book, in wliieli tlie first record is dated April 3, 1790. Accord- 
ing to tliat, Thomas Van Kirk is treasurer, and has a balance 
to his credit, after a settlement with the trustees, of £11. 9s. Td. 
Our first treasurer evidently started right. We commend his 
example to those who follow him. We have also in our pos- 
session the first session book, beginning May 16, 1805, no 
record having been kept previous to that date. There is no 
record of regular preaching in our church until 1T95, when the 
Eev. IIoLLOWAY Whitfield Hunt served the churches of 
Newton and Ilardiston seven years, until 1802. He also 
preached at North Hardiston. He received from Robert 
Ogden the use of a farm, and finally the possession of it, as we 
have already stated. Rev. Mr. Plunt is described by Dr. David 
X. Junkin, in his history of Xewton Presbytery (p. -11), " as 
tall, portly, of a very fair and healthy complexion. He was a 
man of no mean ability, and was, in early life and in his prime, 
a very popular preacher. His manners were very bland and 
attractive, and he had the faculty of attaching the j^eople of 
his charge very strongly to him." He was of English extrac- 
tion, and his ancestry in England were eminent for piety, as 
well as prominent in civil and military life. The family first 
came to this country in 1052. Augustine Hunt, the father of 
Holloway, married Lydia Holluway, from whom came the 
<yhristian name of so many in the family. From this couple 
have descended thus tar six ministers in the direct line, three 
•of them with the same name as your first minister. " August- 
ine removed from New Yoi'k State to Wyoming, Pa., where 
he bought a tract of 'election land,' but after his losses there 
at the time of the massacre moved back to Orange County, 
N. Y. He wrote a panijihlet called ' Hunt's Mite,' in which he 
discussed political and religious doctrines. He was a ' proficient 
in the arts and sciences, conversant in medicine and theology, 
and also often an adviser in legal affairs.' His wife was a de- 
voted Baptist, and her eminent piety left a deep impression 
on her children. When Augustine Hunt lost all his earthly 



HISTORICAL SERMON. 19 

goods at the time of the "Wyoming massacre (1778), he advised 
his son Holloway to seek some life-work for himself, sajino- to 
him, ' all I have to give you is a dollar, and to seek for you 
the blessing of God.' Becoming a Christian, he began life as 
a Methodist minister, but finding his education inadequate, so 
soon as he secured means [' by chopping wood and clearing 
land'], he prepared for college, and graduated at N'assau Hall 
in 1794:. He then helped to educate his brother, Rev. Gardiner 
A. Hunt (of Harmony), who was older, and was not able to 
attend a college course. When he was once preaching at Cen- 
treville, IN". Y., his text was ' What think ye of Christ ? ' At 
the close he said : ' As you leave this house, my friends, some 
of you may be asking one another, AVhat think you of the 
preacher ? but I beg you all to ask one of another. What 
tliink you of Christ?' " — {Genealogy of the Hunt Family}) 

In 1806 the Rev. Barnabas King began his ministry here, 
and remained until 1808 or 1809. We have a very full and in- 
teresting account of Dr. Barnabas King in the " Annals of Mor- 
ris County," by Dr. J. F. Tnttle, president of Wabash College. 
We quote from it the following : " Barnabas King was the 
son of Amos King and Lucy Perkins, of Marlborough, Mass. 
He received a careful elementary education in the public school, 
and there arrested the notice of his minister. Dr. Jacob Cat- 
lin, by his proficiency as a scholar and his admirable manners. 
Dr. Catlin oifered to take him into his family, and for his serv- 
ices on the farm prepare him for Williams College. This was 
done. After his graduation in 1804 he spent the year followino- 
in teaching and in the study of theology with Dr. Catlin, who, 
December 21, 1805, speaks of him in a letter of commendation 
as ' possessing an amiable and hopefully Christian character, 
&c. He has preached acceptably for a number of months 
past, and I feel increasing confidence to recommend him to the 
further service of the churches.' Having during his college 
course spent a part of one winter in teaching at Litfle Falls, 
N. Y., he had packed his saddle bags in Dcceml)er, 18C»5, to 



20 HISTORICAL SERMON. 

start for Central New York in search of a field of labor. The 
dav l)efore he was to start liis classmate Beach returned from 
New Jersey with reports of ' an open door' in that region. Mr. 
King at once set out on horseback, crossing the Hudson at 
Newbnrg and the New Jersey line at Yernon. He spent 
Christmas eve at a country tavei'n at which there was a noisy 
ball. The next day he made his way to Sparta, where Robert 
Ogden received him into his family. Pie soon began to preach 
statedly at Sparta and Berkshire Yalley. * * * On the 
5th of October, 1807, the trustees of Ilockaway voted to offer 
him $208 for preaching there one-half the time. Mr. King 
was warmly commended to the Rockaway people in a letter 
from Rob. Ogden. Mr. King accepted, and gave the other 
half of his time to Sparta and Berkshire Valley. At this time 
he seemed a slender, beardless youth in feeble health, although 
he had passed his 27th l)irthda3', l)ut he began at once in the 
most systematic manner to minister to his new charge, preach- 
ing publicly and from house to house. He not only preached 
in every neighborhood, but he visited every house for religious 
instruction and prayer. His labor became excessive at times, 
and for weeks together amounting to ten public services a 
week, besides his regular visits in the parish and visits to the 
sick." 

Dr. Gillett, in his history of the Presbyterian Church, 
thus describes Mr. King : " Frail and feeble in appearance, and 
supposed by all to be consumptive, he was spared to the dis- 
charge of a long and useful pastorate. With the best men of 
the Jersey presbytery he bore his full share in itinerant evan- 
gelization, going from Paulus Hook to.the Delaware to tell the 
destitute of Christ. One of the most eminent of his contem- 
poraries, the Rev. Albert Barnes, remarked that * he knew 
of no minister whose \valk and labor and success had been so 
admirable as those of Mr. King, of Rockaway.' His great am- 
bition was to win souls. His great book was the Bible. As a 
preacher lie was simple and scriptural, and his whole course 



HISTORICAL SERMON. 21 

was characterized by good sense, consummate judgment, ear- 
nestness of purpose and devotion to liis work. One of his most 
critical hearers remarked ' that he never said a foolish thing.' " 

In 1810 Oliver Green, a licentiate, came here, and after 
preaching a sliort time, died before he was ordained, and was 
buried in the rear of the church, where his tombstone may be 
found. 

Kev. Joseph L. Shafer, D. D., was settled over Newton, 
Hardiston and North Ilardiston, and, after 181-4, also preached 
at Hamburg. Of Dr. Shafer, Dr. Junkin speaks thus, p. 50 : 
" lie was excelled by none in the most desirable elements of 
a Christian pastor. Indeed, he was one of the loveliest Chris- 
tian gentlemen with whom it has ever been your speaker's lot to 
be associated. Grave and sedate, yet cheerful in demeanor ; al- 
ways dignified, yet kind and suave in manner; warm in his 
affections, and tender in his emotional nature ; with an intellect 
clear and practical, rather than grasping and intense ; sound in 
judgment, calm in temperament, respectable in scholarship, 
lucid and chaste, rather than vigorous as a writer ; solemn, 
earnest and distinct as a speaker, his' pulpit powers were of a 
kind to wear, rather than beget sensation. He was the man 
for a lifelong pastorate, devoted to the feeding of a flock, 
ratlier than for aggressive action or sensational occasions. He 
was often moved to tears when preaching Christ criicitied and 
pleading with sinners to seek salvation ; and even wlien not 
speaking himself, his heart often gushed in sympathy with 
devotion conducted by others. I rememl)er, and can never 
forget, his tender, tearful expression after the exercises of 
brother McWilliams' ordination at Oxford were over. He 
approached me in the churchyard, grasped my hand, and with 
tears coursing down his cheeks, he said, ' Brother, I — I thank 
you for that prayer.' He could say no more." 

In 1816 Noah Crane began his services here. He settled 
in this village and bought tlie farm now occupied by William 
Hammell. He preached here from 1816 to 1830, with tlie 



22 HISTORICAL SERMON. 

exception of two or three years after 1825. A revival occurred 
dnrinor lijg ministry, about the hitter date. Ilis was the lon<!;ebt 
ministry of any that the clmrcli has enjoyed, and lie has left a 
very vivid impression of his person and work upon our older 
people, some of whom speak of him in* terms of the warmest 
affection. lie was characterized by a very deliberate manner 
of spoiikinu in conversation and preacliing. 

After an interval of a year or two, the Rev. Mosks Jewell 
was engaged as a stated supplv, at tirst for eight months, from 
August. 1830, at a salary of $1G0 ; and afterward for a year, 
from April 1, 1831, at a salary of $200, supplemented by 
"some foreign assistance.'' lie was a licentiate of the Pres- 
byter;)' of Tonibigbee, and a man of ardent zeal. He is said to 
have been a great worker. In his short ministry of a year and 
eight months, G8 united with the church, 28 at one time and 
2-4 at another. 

The first fifty years of our church's history were almost 
completed by the ministry of the Rev. James Wyckoff, 
which continued only for three years, from September 1, 1832, 
to the same day in 1835. Ilis salary was $4<Hl. He was re 
ceived under the cire of the Presbytery October 7, 1823; 
licensed October 5, 1831 ; and labored as a missionary pre- 
viously to his coming here, in the Newton Presbytery, in Tran- 
quillity and the Stillwater churches, and Timber Swamp, 
When he left here he went to Dover. During his ministry, 
forty-nine united with the church, forty two at one time. Mr. 
Wyckoff's health soon failed, and he died at Hackettstown in 
1838. In November, 1832, the present parsonage was ])ur- 
chased of James S. Morrow, for $G00. 

The second fifty years of our church's life begins with the 
pastorate of Rev. Ezra F. Dayton. Mr. Dayton was licensed 
October 4, 1832, by the Presbytery of Newton, and came here 
from Frankford (now Augusta). The strong attachment to 
him on the part of the peo] le was manifested at the time of his 
death, which occurred October 2, 1838, and by which his min- 



HISTORICAL SERMON. 23 

istry here was cut short at the end of two and a half years. 
The congregation, on the occasion of his decease, seemed to find 
a mournful satisfaction in doing all in their power to show their 
sense of the irreparable loss thej had experienced in the taking 
away of one who had endeared himaelf apparently to every one 
of his flock. During Mr. Dayton's ministry, in 1837, the church 
was repaired for the iirst time. 

Rev. William Torkey was the next minister, from April 1, 
1839, to April, 1846. During Mr. Torrey's time, the Rev. 
Thomas S. Ward supplied the pulpit for about a year. During 
this interval Mr. Torrey was passing through the terrible 
ordeal of being on trial on a most serious charge, both before 
the Presbytery and the civil courts. Being fully acquitted by 
both, he resumed his preaching for about six months, until 
April 1, 1816, when he left. I have been so fortunate as to 
obtain a printed copy of his farewell sermon. It is undoubtedly 
a most able production, and the church has been very fortunate 
if succeeding pastors have come up to the level of so high a 
standard. It is not at all likely that they have surpassed it. 

Rev. Nathaniel Edwards Pierson was here for four years 
from 1810. We have the following tribute to his worth from 
the Rev. Z. A. Bradbury : " Mr. Pierson was a man of com- 
manding appearance and fine address. His style of delivery 
was highly declamatory. The recollections of my boyhood fix 
him as a model in this respect. I carry in my memory many 
of his earnest appeals to the young people of Sparta. He was 
a father to me, and I loved him dearly. He and his good wife 
were the agents in le'ading me in to the Gospel ministry. His 
labors in Unionville, Westtown and Ridgebury were greatly 
blessed of God, and hundreds of souls were brought into the 
kingdom tlirough his ministry in these places. There were 
powerful revivals of religion at the above-named places during 
his ministry there. Many also were added to the church at 
Ilorseheads while he was their pastor. I spent many of my 
college vacations in his family, and I knew him most intimately. 



24 HISTORICAL SERMON. 

He was a loving Imsband and most indulgent father. He was 
a friend of the fatherless and widow, and knew how to sympa- 
thize with them, for he was himself a double orphan in his 
early childhood. I never shall forget his earnest efforts to lead 
me, hotli head and heart, in right channels ; and I know that 
he exerted himself in behalf of many of the young men and 
women of Sparta, whose remains now lie in the churchyard, 
just back of the dear old pulpit, where now in imagination I 
see him standing making strong appeals to us young people, 
boys and girls. There are very few men to whom my heart 
is as strongly bound as it was to N. E. Pierson." 

William Megie was here for one year, and is remembered 
as a man of solid attainments, and a genial companion to those 
with whom he was intimate. 

The Rev. Daniel Higbie commenced his labors here April 
1st, 1852, as stated supply, and was chosen pastor the next 
year, April 4th, 1853. lie therefore had the honor of being 
the first pastor of this church. He resigned on account of ill 
health at a meeting of the Presbytery of Rockaway at Sparta, 
December 24th, 1855. He is said to have been a man of great 
amiability and inoffensiveness. Gentle and kindly, he illus- 
trated the apostle's injunction, "As niach as lieth in you, live 
peaceably with all men." 

While the Rev. Noah Crane labored for the longest period 
— ?'. ^., twelve to thirteen years — tiie Rev. Livingston Willard 
made the most indelible impression upon the majority while 
he was here. Manifestly he seemed to be the right man in the 
right place. Bold, independent, entirely extemporaneous in 
his preaching, his graphic ])ower and vivid s yle carried away 
his heaivrs, and those whom he affected at all he moved im- 
measurably. Tiie fruit of his labors was found in the conversion 
of eighty-six in all, sixty-one of whom came into full communion 
at one time upon a memorable occasion in April, 1858. Mr. 
Willard was here five years and two months in all — first as, 
pa-^tor for four years, then as stated supply for about a year. 



HISTORICAL SERMON. 25 

William L. Moore was here for oue year. 

The Rev. Francis E. M. Bachelor was the sixteenth minis- 
ter and the third pastor of this church. He served it from 
1863 to 1870. During his miuirtry tlie church was repaired a 
second time. It wsis raised np higlier and a Sabbath school 
room built nnderneath. This was in 1869. Mr. Bachc4or is 
said to have been a good preacher and faithful pastor, and still 
retains the love and esteem of those to whom he formerly 
preached for a period of six years and a half. 

Rev. R. S. Feagles was also a man who sustained the high 
level of pulpit ability wliich it had been the good fortune of 
the church previously to enjoy. 

The Rev. AVilliam M. McKee was the fourth pastor, and 
remained liere four years and a half. Mr. McKee is well re- 
membered, having been here long enough to leave such an im- 
press as so careful and studious a sermonizer might be expected 
to produce. 

The Rev. John S. Hanna supplied this pulpit for one year. 
He was a man of studious habits and fearless measures. It was 
during his ministry and under his influence that Elder Ford W. 
Rochellc united with the church and decided to study for the 
Christian ministry. 

During the ministry of the Rev. Thomas Tyack, the fifth 
pastor and twentieth minister, the commodious and well- 
appointed church at Ogdensburg was built, at a cost of more 
than $2100. This lasting and useful result of a most efficient 
ministry will serve as a memorial for years to come of one who 
was as much appreciated for many attractive personal qualities 
as he will be remembered for his earnest work in the salvation 
of precious souls in the community. 

The present pastor began his labors January 1st, 1881, and 
takes this occasion to express his appreciation of the marked 
kindness and respect with which he has been, uniformly 
treated. 

Full reference cannot be made at this time to the succession of 



26 HISTORICAL SEKMON. 

godlj men who, in the imporant office of the eldership, lield up 
the hands of tlie ministry and co-operated heartily in the work of 
saving souls and preserving the purity of doctrine and life. 
An account will have to be given elsewhere, also, of the long 
roll of faithful trustees who, under trying circumstances, have 
often exeniplitled both the patience and the perseverance of 
the saints. 

How pleasant it is now to be able to thank God for His 
providential care extended over this church for so long a period, 
enabling us to meet together to-day with every pecuniary obli- 
gation fully discharged, and with an open door before us through 
whicn we can enter upon the promised land of spiritual and 
lasting success. We could not do justice in the short time left 
us to the various other departments of church work in the 
Sabbath school and women's sphere. All this must be left for 
you to read at your leisure. 

It would be instructive and entertaining to consider the 
great changes that have taken place during the last century, not 
only ill the great Presbyterian body to which we belong, but 
also in the outside world. But to be satisfactory this would 
require more than one discourse, and w^e shall therefore have to 
forbear 

Now, before closing you need only to be reminded of what 
no doubt has already occurrei to you, and that is how much 
worse, morally, socially and politically, this community would 
liave been but for the preached gospel and the services of the 
sanctuary, continuously maintained during all these years. To 
question this would be equivalent to a denial of evident and 
conspicuous facts. And, moreover, how distinctly does the 
origin of our church suggest the equally unquestionable fact 
that all true religious life, as well as all civic virtue, starts from 
the home. The church in the home and the church as a home 
is the only church that is one in any reJil and sufficient sense. 
This will show us clearly how we should transmit to others 
what has been handed down to us. Profiting thus by the 



ADDKESS OF REV. J. C. CLYDE, D. D. 27 

experiences of our forefathers, we can the iriore easily avoid 
damagini^ errors and the more securely follow the safe paths 
which lead to peace. 



ADDRESS OF REV. J. C. CLYDE, D. D. 

Unavoidable injustice is done to Dr. Clyde, who represented 
Xewton Presbytery, by the necessity of giving only parts of 
his address, as follows : 

*' The great struggle for existence and advancement in this 
world naturally occupies the mind and calls forth the physical 
energies of man. Little time is found for that contemplation 
of the dead past Avhich does not in some way contribute to 
our present welfare. And yet there is a certain enjoyment 
and profit to be derived from a review of the experiences of 
our forefathers, though it bring neither food to eat, raiment to 
wear, nor money for the purse. By such contemplation of the 
past we are enabled better to appreciate the advantages we now 
enjoy, and more cheerfully to submit to the discouragements 
and trials which make up the common lot of humanity. So to- 
day we turn our faces, for a little, from the unknown and un- 
tried future, to the known past, with which we have been 
made more or less familiar by the experiences of those who 
have accomplished their mission and departed, but who have 
left something of that experience on record, from which we 
may draw lessons for guidance and encouragement. 

''We are here to-day to commemorate an event in the history 
of an ecclesiastical organization which happened a hundred 
years ago. That event and the ecclesiastical organization with 
which it was connected were not peculiar or solitary. Other 
ecclesiastical organizations came into existence, and had their 
interesting and important events in tliat indefinite period — a 
hundred years ago — but all depended, more or less, upon the 
forming of settlements and the migrations of the people in the 



28 ADDRESS OF REV. J. C. CLYDE, D. D. 

colonial days. Let us, then, note some of the incidents con- 
nected with the ' possessing ' of this o^oodly land around us 
which fell to the lierita<i;e of our forefathers. 

" In 1G23 we see the first formal colony sent out to this 
part of the country from Holland. But who were these 
colonists ? They were the Walloons, refugees from Flanders, 
Belgium, who in religious belief were Dutch Pjotcstants. 
They, like the French Huguenots, came to these shores for 
conscience' sake. Most of them located at New Amsterdam, 
hut some, with their leader, Cornelius May, sailed around the 
southern end of New Jersey into Delaware bay, landed and 
started a settlemeiit a little below where the city of Camden 
now stands." 

* -X- * -x- * * 

After speaking of the long light between the Dutch, of New 
Amsterdam, and the English, Mr. Clyde said : 

" In 1004: Charles II, of England, granted to his brother, the 
Duke of York, all the territory between the mouth of the Con- 
necticut and the mouth of the Delaware rivers, Dutch Gov- 
ernment, trading companies and colonies to the contrary not- 
withstanding. To carry out this usurpation, Nichols, with a 
Ih-itish fleet, soon appeared at New Amsterdam, and, amid the 
rage and futile protestations of Stuyvesant, the capitulation 
was extorted, Fort Orange surrendered, the settlements in New 
Sweden gave in their adherence to the new authority. New 
Amsterdam was supplemented by the name New York, New 
Netherlands was consigned to oblivion for the time being, and 
tlie British flag floated supreme from Maine to Georgia. This 
grant to the J^uke of York included the present State of New 

.Jersey. 

* * * * -x- * 

" A band of Puritans o])tained a large tract of land on New- 
ark bay, and the city of Elizabeth was started and so named in 
honor of Lady Carteret. Philip Carteret, son of Sir George, 
arrived in 1065, holding a commission as (iovernor. Nichols, 



ADDRESS OF REV. J. C. CLYDE, D. D. 29 



of New York, bitterly opposed him, but he nevertheless as- 
sumed authority over all the settlers west of the Hudson, 
Elizabeth was chosen as the capital of the colony. Many im- 
migrants now settled on the Passaic. The city of IS^ewark was 
founded, and villages sprang up all along the shore around to 
Sandy Hook. 

" Sir George Carteret being Governor of the Isle of Jersey, in 
the British Channel, very naturally named his Amei'ican colony 
Xew Jersey. The people were granted a constitution. The 
civil authority consisted of a gov^ernor, council and legislative 
assembly. Taxes were laid by the representatives of the peo- 
ple. Freedom of conscience in religious matters was guaran- 
teed. Lands were distributed to settlers for a quit-rent of a half- 
penny per acre, not payable till 1670. 

" The first legislative a8semi)ly convened at Elizabeth in 16G8, 
and was composed almost exclusively of Puritans, and the in- 
stitutions of the colony took the general form of those in New 
England. The quit-rents came due in 1670. But the people 
had purchased their lands primarily from the Indians, and 
secondarily from Governor Nichols, of New York, who still 
claimed jurisdiction in New Jersey. They therefore felt that 
a third payment was unjust. Violence followed. In 1672 the 
Assembly deposed Philip Carteret, and his brother James be- 
came Governor of the colony. 

"The Dutch in 1673 obtained control of the country again, 
but in 1675, Philip Carteret, the former Governor of New 
Jersey, returned and found himself bitterly opposed by Andros, 
of New York, who, among other things, laid tribute upon the 
ships sailing to the Jersey coast. In the meantime Edward 
Byllings became involved in debt and made an assignment to 
Gowen Laurie, Nicholas Lucas and AVilliam Penn, for the 
benefit of his creditors. These Quakers asked Sir George Carte- 
ret to divide the pi ovince. This he was willing to do, for thereby 
he would get control of his share without incumbrance. Accord- 
ingly, in 1676, a line was agreed upon, drawn from the southern 



3(1 ADDRESS OF Rp:V, J. C. CLYDE, D. D. 

point of land on the east side of Little Egg Harbor, to a point on 
the Delaware River in latitude 41° 40'. All east of this line was 
called East Jersey, and all west of it West Jersey. This line 
(Lawrence's) would cross the New Jersey Southern Railroad a 
little south of Whiting ; the Pennsylvania Railroad, running 
from Bordentown to South Amboy, a little east of Hightstown 
Junction ; the same railroad, running from Trenton by way of 
Kcw Brunswick, a little west of Monmouth Junction ; it would 
cross the Lehigh Valley Railroad between Flagtown and Bound 
Brook, and the Central Railroad of New Jersey between 
Raritan and Somerville ; thence across German Yalley a little 
west of Chester ; through Bndd's Lake, crossing the Delaware, 
Lackawanna and Western Railroad close to Waterloo on the 
west ; thence by the western end of Reading's Pond and east- 
ern end of Swartswood Lake, close by Quick's Pond, striking 

the Delaware River near Bevare's, below Dingman's Ferry. 
-X- * * * * -x- 

'• In the fall of lfi77 more than four hundred Quaker immi- 
grants took up their abode in West Jersey under the auspices 
of the proprietaries. Andros, of New York, by his agent at 
New Castle, Delaware, attempted to collect tribute of the 
Quaker ships that came to the shores of West Jersey, but the 
English courts decided that this could not be done. The heirs 
of Sir George Carteret quickly secured a similar immunity for 
themselves in East Jersey, and so all the territory of New 
Jersey became tribute free. Deputy-Governor Samuel Jennings 
convened the first legislative assembly in West Jersey in 1681. 
It decreed religious toleration ; equality before the law ; no 
imprisonment for debt ; the sale of rum to the Indians was pro- 
hibited ; representatives of the people were to lay the taxes ; 
lands were to be purchased from the Indians, and a criminal, 
unless a murderer, traitor or thief, might be pardoned by the 

offended party. 

******* 

"In 1682 William Penn, with eleven other Quakers, bought 



ADDRESS OK KEY. J. C. CLYDE, D. D. 31 

out the Carteret interest in East Jersey, and the wliole province 
passed under the jurisdiction of the Friends. Robert Barclay 
became Governor. He was a Scotch Quaker from Aberdeen, 
and during his administration there was a large immigration to 
New Jersey of those of like nationality and like religious faith 
with himself. The persecuted Presbyterians of his native 
country also came in greater numbers than his co-religionists, 
and so we see how seeds of Presbyterianism were sown in this 
section of the country in that distant day." 

After speaking of the conflicts of jurisdiction between the 
governors of T^ew York and New Jersey, Dr. Clyde continued : 

" Thus Avere public afEairs brought down to that confusion 
which ended in the surrender of charter privileges and the 
turning over of the territory of New Jersey to the King of 
England as a crown province. Under him the old Duke of 
York, now James II, desired to consolidate under one rule all 
the country between the mouth of the Delaware and the mouth 
of the Connecticut, as he had before claimed he had a right to 
do. Fletcher was made commander of all the militia in Con- 
necticut, New York and New Jersey. 

" In the attempt to carry out this scheme there was a sad state 

of affairs in New Jersey. The representatives of the Carterets 

claimed East Jersey, Penn claimed it, and the Governor of 

New York claimed it. As to West Jersey, the heirs of Byllings 

claimed it, his assignees claimed it, and the Governor of New 

York claimed it also. The King of England, moreover, 

claimed all. From 1689 to 1692 there was practical anarchy 

in the province, and during the succeeding decade there were 

more rulers than were convenient or j)i'ofitable. The whole 

difficulty was solved in 1Y02 by the surrender of the crown 

of all rights except those of ownership of the soil. Thus New 

Jersey became a crown province. Fletcher was followed in 

1697 by the Earl of Bellomont. 

» * * * -x- * 

" Governor Bellomont was followed, in 1702, by Lord Corn- 



32 ADDRESS OF RKV. .1. C. CLYDE, D. D. 

bury. New Jersey having become a royal province this year, 
as we have seen, the two colonies of New York and New 
Jersey were united under tlie new ruler, in which relation they 
remained for thirty-six years. While the two provinces of New 
York and New Jersey were under one Governor they retained 
separate legislative assemblies and distinct territorial limits. 
A separation was applied for on the part of New Jersey in 
1728, but it was not obtained until another decade had passed. 
As Lewis Morris was instrumental in obtaining the separation, 
lie became the first Governor under the new order <>f things. 
During the administration of these latter Governors, the great 
causes of the American Revohition were working out their 
legitimate results with which the schoolboy is made familiar. 
Among these might be mentioned the intermeddling with 
colonial affairs on the part of the British Parliament. English 
sovereigns claimed the exclusive control over the colonies. Par- 
liament repudiated this idea at the calling of William of 
Orange to the English throne. But the people of the colonies 
clung to the sovereign as their liege lord, and looked upon the 
intermeddiings of Parliament as impertinences to be resisted." 

Among the other causes of the American Revolution, Dr. 
Clyde mentioned the following : 

" England, with other European nations, was possessed with 
the hallucination that gold and silver constituted a people's 
wealth. Hence, the policy was to export to the colonies more 
than was imported from them, the balance in trade being ex- 
acted in gold and silver. To carry out this policy there must 
be protective tariff at home against the colonies. 

* -X- * * -X- * 

" Then England must grow rich by engaging in the African 

slave trade, forcing the black man upon the colonists against 

the rights and protests of both. 

-X- ***** 

"Then the march of events in the overthrow of the European 
colonial system, fast bringing about a crisis. One European 



ADDRESS OF KEV. A. A. HAINES. 33 

nation refused to respect the rights of another in the matter of 
colonial dependencies. Thus if a colony, oppressed by its 
parent country, showed signs of resistance, it would receive 
encouragement and assistance from some other foreign power, 
" Thus the colonies were encouraged to put forth efforts for 
their own welfare in the midst of the common confusion. 

* -S vr -.i * •^:- 

" Then the sending of criminals to prey upon the homes 
and lives of the colonists went far to fill to the brim the cup of 
colonial sorrows. The crisis came, and the colonists, having 
learned their power by experiences of the French and Indian 
war, united their efforts and never gave up their contest for 
independence till the power of the oppressor was completely 
broken in the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown." 



ADDRESS OF UEV. A. A. IIAI^^ES. 

He who plants a church may be compared to tlie man who 
digs a well. He may enjoy the blessing of it in his own life- 
time, and then leave it to future generations for their blessing 
and comfort. The life-giving stream will flow on when he 
himself has long done w^ith earthly things. Children and chil- 
dren's children shall come and draw water from the well oi 
salvation. The sons of strangers shall be made heirs of eternal 
life. The thirsty soul shall come and drink, and the weary and 
the heavy laden sliall find rest beneath the shadow of the trees 
and foliage which spring around it. What a source of good for 
a hundred years has been this Sparta church ! I'or the lifetime 
of three generations have God's people worshipped, and con- 
verts been multiplied, and souls won on this spot. The Lord 
shall count when He writeth up the people, that this man was 
born there. The dews of heavenly grace have descended here, 
and the Holy Spirit been often poured out within these walls. 
From the lips of many preachers has the Gospel been proclaimed 



34 ADDRESS OF REV. A. A. HAINES. 

and the offer of mercy extended. What numbers have ac- 
cepted tliat offer and rejoiced in the Lord their Saviour ! 

Previous to the Revolutionary war the population of this 
county was sparse and widely separated. The present existing 
towns were unknown, and few localities bore the same names 
they now have. Newton was called Sussex Court House ; 
Andover, Sussex Mine ; Hamburg, Wal ling's ; Lafayette, 
Snooks ; and Sparta, the Head of the Wallkill. The Wallkill 
derived its name from the River Wall in the Netherlands, 
from wdiich came some of the early inhabitants, who settled 
alono" the lower banks of the stream. The County of Sussex 
was formed in 1753. The Township, in which was the court 
house, was called New Town^ and from that comes the modern 
name Newton. The township of llardiston was set off from 
Newtown in 1762, and included the present township of Sparta. 

Sparta was the name given by Mrs. Phebe Ilattield 
Oo"dcn, wife of Robert Ogden, 2d, to their house and farms 
four miles away. She was a woman of patriotic spirit, with three 
sons in the army of Washington and one a commissary in the 
army. She gave the name to her home with the wish that the 
youth of this vicinity might emulate the virtues of ancient 
Sparta. AVlien a post-office was established it M-as called 
Sparta. The list of ])Ost-offices of 1S08 has J. Northrup, post- 
master. Edsall says, in his centennial address of 1854: "In 
1769 Newton contained an Episcopal congregation, the first 
formed in the county ; about the same time a German congre- 
gation was gathered, and a Presbyterian congregation was soon 
brouo-ht together." We may assume, therefore, that the date 
of 1757, given for the organization of the Newton church, may 
be correct. As early as 1750 Presbyterian families were 
settled at Hamburg, and had occasional services in their houses. 
Few records remain of these early congregations, but we know 
that church organizations were in existence. There was, at 
any rate, occasional jjreaching, with the administration of the 
sacraments. 



ADDRESS OF KEY. A. A. HAINES. 35 

Tluscliurcli owed its earliest existence to Robert Ogden, 2d, 
and the church's early history is very closely connected with 
his own and that of his sons, Robert and Matthias. lie was 
born in the borough of Elizabeth, where he resided until his 
removal to Sussex. He tilled numerous offices of honor and 
trust under the crown. Pie was a member of the New Jersey 
J Coiiucil and several years Speaker of the House of Assembly. 
Being appointed one of the delegates from the Legislature of 
New Jersey to the Provii^ional Congress that met in 1705, in 
New York, to protest against the Stamp Act, he, with the 
chairman of the convention, refused to sign the protest and 
petition to the King and Parliament, npon the ground that it 
should be transmitted to the Provincial Assembly, and through 
it be presented to the Government of Great Britain. This so 
greatly displeased his constituents that he was burned in effigy 
on his return home. He convened the Assembly and resigned 
his Speakership and membership, and in his address on the 
occasion said : '' I trust Providence will, in due time, make the 
rectitude of my heart and my inviolable affection to my country 
appear in a fair light to the world ; and that my sole aim was 
the happiness of New Jersey." He never after accepted public 
office under the State. When the war of the Revolution began 
he took a firm stand on the side of freedom, and was a member 
of the Committee of Vigilance for the town. But for his re- 
fusal to accept office, he would probably have been a member 
of Congress when the Declaration of Independence was signed, 
along with his friend and correspondent, Richard Stockton. 
He was so obnoxious to the Tories that they made great efforts 
to capture him, and this may have had something to do with 
his removal finally to Sussex. The exact date of this is indefi- 
nite, for the reason that he came and returned again more than 
once. Edsall says : " Among the earliest settlers was Robert 
Ogden, who removed from Elizabethtown in 1705 or 1706." 
Early papers show liis presence here, although he was residing 
in Elizabethtown when the war broke out. After the battle 



36 ADDRESS OF REV. A. A. HAINES. 

of Long Island and the occupation of New York by the British, 
September 15, 1776, it was no longer safe for him to remain 
there, and in a letter written October 7 to his son-in-law he 
says : " Your mother still seems undetermined whether to stay 
here by the stuff or remove to Sussex. A few days will de- 
termine her, but perhaps in a few days it may be too late to 
determine a matter of this importance." The determination to 
remove was forced upon them when Washington retreated 
through the Jerseys ; and the winter, which found him in 
Morristown, found them in Sparta. [See letter of January, 
1777, from his son addressed, " Robert Ogden, Sussex."] One 
of his descendants writes : " My great grandfather and his wife, 
Phebe Hatfield, lived on the rising ground toward the Snuff- 
town Mountain. I believe he was one of the original proprie- 
tors of East Jersey, but whether this is correct or not, he 
owned a great deal of land estate in this vicinity and some of 
the ' Drowned Lands ' of Wantage. There were no sawmills 
in the country when he emigrated from Elizabethtown. The 
house was built entirely of squared logs. I have often been in 
the house, l)ut before my advent it was handsomely covered with 
weather-boards, and wainscoted and plastered within. The 
house was a large one, with a hall running through the center. 
Four rooms were on a floor and a very large kitchen. My 
great grandmother and her sister, Bettie Hatfield, made this 
house and its surroundings very beautiful. There was a large 
lawn and garden. Around the lawm were set rose-bushes, lilacs 
and syringas in regular order. The whole country was at that 
time covered with a dense forest. A clergyman who was a 
guest of the family when some of the ornamental plants were 
in bloom, exclaimed, ' Mrs. Ogden, you have made the wilder- 
ness to blossom as the rose.' " It was this house that was 
assailed by the gang of robbers (called cowboys) ; and the 
ample cellars afforded them refreshment and booty. I always 
understood that the leader of the gang was Claudius Smith, 
and that he confessed to participation in the robbery when 



ADDRESS OF REV. A. A. HAINES. 37 

under the gallows in Goshen, N. Y. It was a very cold night 
One of the black girls, as slie was milking, saw, as she said, a 
man lift his head up from behind a log where he was lying. 
But the family were not alarmed, as there were guards in a 
block-house two miles away, and they thought themselves safe 
from the Tories. They robbed the house of all the silver, but 
were disappointed in not finding the large sum of money w^iich 
Judge Ogden was supposed to have received for purchasing 
provisions for the Continental Army. They drank freely of 
some whisky, kept in the cellar, and were by it thrown fff 
their guard, and found that he knew some of them. One man 
said, "Judge, I have had many a good meal in your house 
l)efore this." When they had ransacked through everything and 
collected their booty, they took him, with the big family Bible, 
down stairs into the cellar, and threatened to kill him if he 
would not take his solemn oath never to divulge who they 
were or seek their punishment. When they were taking him 
down, Mrs. Ogden shrieked, thinking they were going to mur- 
der him. The alarm was sounded next morning through one 
of the negro boys, who hid himself all night in the swamp, and 
on going out informed the guards at the block -house, who with 
some of the neighbors gave chase. They tracked them in the 
show, and saw where they had cooked and slept and had thrown 
away some blankets ; and a silver sugar bowl which had been 
d ropped was found. Some of the booty was afterward recovered 
where it had been hid ; but Judge Ogden so regarded his oath 
that he refused to authorize any proceedings against the men. 

'• The people of this county were very much annoyed by the 
surprises of a Tory l)and, who mysteriously disappeared after 
their raids. At last one fellow was found in a house where he 
was lying either sick or disabled from an accident. Being 
threatened with lianging, he made a full confession, and gave in- 
formation by which members of the gang were taken. In an 
old house two chiinneys came together, with a single top above 
the roof, and between was a closet, where three men were 



38 ADDRKSS OF KKV. A. A. HAINES. 

secreted. An old haystack had l)t'en left over from a former 
hayiiiii:, and its interior had been hollowed to afford a hiding 
place, and here several were taken. At first there was no an- 
swer to the demand to " come out and surrender."' But when 
the leg of one of them was seized hold upon he was soon 
draiTi^ed out and the rest made to follow, and the stack was soon 
a-l)lazing. The pursuini>: party came to a large house somewhere 
on Snufftown Mountain, where the owner received them with 
much apparent frankness and conducted them all over the 
house, telling them they should see everything and they would 
find all right on his premises. lie brought them to the last 
room, saying, "My wife is lying here very sick, and you need 
not disturb her, but just go in and see there is nothing there.'' 
They said they would not harm the sick woman, but the cap- 
tain beckoned his men to come in. Over the floor in the mid- 
dle of the room a green baize cloth had been tacked down, and 
the bed was on that and the woman in the bed. They lifted 
the bedstead and woman aside, took up the cloth, and found a 
trap door in the floor, beneath which was an excavation in 
which half a dozen fellows were hiding. Other rufhans were 
picked up elsewhere, until they had quite a company of prison- 
ers, with which the captain set ofl: for Goshen. When night came 
on they camped and made a pen of logs for the culprits and built 
a large fire, but drank so freely of whisky from a big keg they 
had taken that guards and all went to sleep and their prisoners 
all escaped. Claudius Smith was afterward retaken and exe- 
cuted for his numerous crimes. He Avas connected with the 
robber Moody, who had a place of retreat near Newton, and 
who after the war escaped to England, where he published a 
romantic story of his life and deeds. This house of Judge 
Ogden first held the Sparta church. Here its owner and his 
wife would gather their tenants and neighbors for divine M'or- 
ship, he himself leading the services on the Sabbath when no 
clergyman was present. 

The Revolutionary war was over. On March 10, 1786, the 



ADDRESS OF REV. A. A. HAINES. '3j9 

New Jersey Legislature passed an act for the incorporation of 
religious societies. This church was the first to avail itself of 
tlie benefits of the new law, and, associated with the congrega- 
tion of Gary Meeting House, they assumed the name of the 
First Presbyterian Church in Hardiston, November 23, 1786. 
Steps were immediately taken toward the erection of a meet- 
ing-house. But snow was on the ground before any timber 
was cut. The story of the prayer in the sleigh by the old 
Judge, with the axemen all around him, has been already nar- 
rated. The frame was very substantial, as proved by its last- 
ing until to-day, being used in the present structure. Judge 
Richard R. Morris informed me they worshipped at first with 
ground floor and scored logs for seats. Judge Ogden died 
January 21, 1787, in his 71st year. It is not likely that he 
beheld the new meeting-house erected, but was laid to rest a 
little in its rear after work was begun. He was long an elder 
in the Elizabethtown church, beino' a descendant of " ffood old 
John Ogden," who came from North Hampton, England, 1635, 
and was one of the two original patentees of the Elizabethtown 
purchase, 1664. Judge Oi|den, as an elder, was a member of 
the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, 1763 and 1766. 

After his death his son, Robert Ogden, 3d, was active in 
the church, being an elder and president of the Board of 
Trustees, and a large contributor to the support of tlie church 
and its work of benevolence. He died at Hamburg, February 
14, 1826, at the house of his grandson, Daniel Haines. A 
lawyer called to l)e sergeant-at-law, he had a large practice in 
the State. He was disabled in the arm by a fall in childhood, 
incapacitating him from the use of musket or sword during the 
Revolutionary war. But he was quartermaster and commis- 
sary of subsistence and stores, and rendered good service to the 
army, giving his time, money and credit freely to supply the 
army. His pay for subsistence furnished was in Continental 
money (worthless at the end of the war), which was kept in 
an old trunk in a garret until finally scattered and lost. Dur- 



40 ADDRESS OF KKV. A. A, HAINES. 

ing tlie war lie removed liis family to Sussex, Lut returned to 
Eliz;il)L'tlitu\vn wlien it closed, as I judge by the remark of Col. 
Aaron Ogden, who said to some friends, as "Washington bade 
farewell to his officers, at Newburg, 1783, '' Here I am without 
a profession and 27 years old ; I expect to go to Elizabethtown 
and enter my name in my brother Robert's office as a student 
at law." Suffering from asthma at times, only the mountain 
air could bring him relief, and he alternated for some years 
between his two homes. His house in Sussex is now standing, 
and some of us have passed it to-day in coming to this meet- 
ing. It was built by a Mr. Hoagland, whose name appears in 
the church records. It was a house of great hospitality, and 
ministers made it their home very frequently. One who had 
been a guest there said of it that it possessed an air of com- 
fort, polish and gentility, " There was a well-stocked larder, 
plenty of servants, abundnnce of fruit, and a pious, good family 
to entertain you." Mr. ( )gden was very particular to main- 
tain family worship, and did all he could in every way to pro- 
mote private, social and public worship. He sometimes con- 
ducted the prayer meeting in Mr.' Woodruff's schoolhouse, 
near his own dwelling. lie sustained the public worship in 
the church at Sparta when a clergynum was absent. He was 
greatly respected by all of mature years, and beloved by all the 
children. The most by which he is now known is what he did 
for tlie cause of his Master, Tlie ministers supplying this 
chuivh were the same who preached at the Gary Meeting 
House until May 15, 1819, when the North Presbyterian Church 
of Hardiston was formed as a distinct organization. In Sep- 
teml)er, 1805, a subscription paper was drawn up to learn how 
mucli could be paid a sui)ply from the New York Presbytery 
at the Cary Meeting House, I presume the same M'as done by 
this churcli. 

A letter of Rev, Jos. L. Shafer to Robert Ogden, written as 
he was contemplating settlement [see Appendix II], speaks of 
his uncertainty as to liis duty and doubt whether the salary of 



ADDRESS OF REV. A. A. HAINES. 41 

$500, which was promised from all these churclies combined, 
was sufficient. This church has been blessed with precious re- 
vivals, attending the labors, during different protracted meet- 
ings, of such honored servants of God as Enos Osborn, Peter 
Kanouse, Elias R. Fairchild and Edward Allen. The older 
members may remember the weeping between the porch and 
the altar, when the Word came with power, and scores were 
pricked to the heart with conviction of sin ; when the great 
concern for the time in all the j)lace seemed to be the question, 
What shall I do to be saved ? Precious were the communion 
seasons, when the gathered fruits were received, and many 
stood up in these aisles to confess their Lord. 

The great revival of 1800 was slow in reaching these parts, 
but from 1815 to 1820 the waves of the precious work ex- 
tended over Sussex County — as witness the church of New- 
foundland, gathered in a barn — the Clove church increased to a 
membership of 500, and all our churches made much larger 
than they had ever been before. It was not uncommon for 75 
or 100 new members to be received at once. A protracted 
meeting, one illustrative of the kind held in all the churches, 
was attended l)y the minister of this church, by Mr. John Linn, 
from Cary's Meeting House, and others who went to the 
Beemcr Meeting House, then Congregational. There were 
services continued with preaching and exhortations of different 
ministers for three days. Fifteen hundred persons attended 
the services, and no doubt they must have been held on that 
account in the oj)en air. A prayer-meeting was held at day- 
light. [See Appendix I.] 

Shall such times of refreshing come again ? There is no 
success like the conversion of sinners. These are a church's 
joy and her crown of rejoicing in the Day of the Lord. 
Brethren of the Sparta Church, yon report 100 members. What 
may not 100 consecrated men and women do for their Master 
in a town like this! Why may you not carry the whole place 
for Jesus Christ ! Perishing souls are all about you. Rouse, 



42 ADDRESS OF REV. A. A. HAINES. 

Christian people ! and awake to a sense of tlieir infinite peril 
and save tliein before it is too late. Sincere and persevering 
efforts for good will be sure to meet M'ith success. May this 
Centennial Celebration l)e followed with blessed results, and 
mark a new era of growth and successful endeavor in the history 
of your church. 



APPKKDIX. 



I.— KEYIVALS AND CHURCH WORK. 

The following extracts from the diary of Robert Ogden (fur- 
nished by Rev. A. A. Haines) are very interesting for the ac- 
connts they contain of the revivals at Beenier Meeting House in 
1818 and at Beemerville and the Clove in 1824. These were 
followed at both times by quite large acces<ions the next spring 
at North Ilardiston and Sparta, It also appears from these 
records that the weekly prayer-meeting and monthly concert of 
prayer for missions on Monday night were both maintained 
here at that early day. It is also to be noted that l)otli the 
works of grace referred to began in the summer : 

"1818, Tuesday, 25th [August].— After breakfast set off 
witli Mr. Crane to go to the General Meeting at Beemer's 
church, in Frankford. Eat dinner at Judge Linn's. In the 
evening attended the prayer-meeting in Beemer's church ; about 
100 assembled. Lodged at N. Beemer's. Wednesday morning 
attended the prayer-meeting at sunrise ; about lifty attended. 
At nine assembled for worship. Mr. Greer, Mr. Williams, Mr, 
Shafer, Mr. Crane, Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Allen attended. Mr. 
Greer preached, the others exhorted. At twelve had an hour's 
intermission. Assembled at one, Mr. Allen preached and the 
others exhorted. Closed the exercises before four o'clock. It 
was supposed about 1500 were collected. No accident or dis- 
turbance happened. * * * After breakfast on Thursday 
morning came home, Mr. Crane eat dinner with me. After 
dinner went to prayer-meeting [Sparta], Drank tea and lodged 
at Mr, Kelsey's. 

" Monday, 7th September, 1818. — Attended the monthly 
evening concert at the Academy. 

"Saturday, October 23d, 1824.— Went to Decker Town, 
Lodged at Mr. Allen's. 

"Sabbath, 24th. — Attended the connnunion at the new meet- 
ing-house below the mountain in Wantage [Beemerville] under 
the pastoral care of Mr, Edward Allen, A powerful and ex- 



44 



REVIVALS AND CHURCH WORK, 



tensive revival of religion has taken place in that congregation, 
and the congregation of the Clove and of Decker Town, now 
united under the care of Mr. Allen ahout three months ago, 
and has since lieen increasing and jirogressing, so that 122 new 
raenihers \vere received into the church, of whom more than 
fifty received baptism. Mr. Job Foster Ilalsey, a licentiate from 
the seminai-y at Princeton, was there and assisted Mr. Allen in 
the administration of the ordinance. The house, although 
large, was crowded to overflowing. The exercises of the day 
were solemn, impressive, edifying, coniforting and consoling, 
and in the highest degree alarniino: to the impenitent. ( ) my 
God, let not the operations of the Spirit be suspended, bur may 
the/ still be visible among tliat people and also be extended to 
this barren corner of Thy vineyard ! " 

Another account of the great meeting at Beemer Meeting 
House is found in the Kev. Edward Allen's diary in the pos- 
session of Rev. A. A. Haines. It is as follows : 

"AVodnesday, 2(!th August, 1818. — In a gig with Judge Linn 
rode to Beemeris Meeting House. Here found live Presbyterian 
clergymen assembled, two of the Baptist order, one Methodist 
and one Independent. At ten public worship commenced. The 
exercises were commenced by Mr. Williams. After an ex- 
hortation and ])rayer, Mr. Grier, of New York State [West- 
town) ])reached a good sermon. He was succeeded by Mr. 
Crane, of Sparta. The audience was large, and not one-half 
could get in the house. In the afternoon, Mr. Shafer, of New- 
ton, commenced the exercises by a short prayer. I then 
S'eached a sermon, and was followed by an exhortation fi-om 
r. Baldwin and Mr. Shafer. At four our meeting was dissolved. 
In the aftei'uoon we ])reached standing in the door. It was 
judged that nearly 2000 ])ersons were present, but the order 
and solemnity were as great as if it had been on the Lord's 
Day." 

The extensive interest referred to above seems to have been 
shared by this church, for from August, 1818, to January, 1819, 
sixty -live were added to the church. In April, 1825, there 
wa«> another season of awakening, and fourteen were added to the 
church at one time. In January and April, 1827, twenty were 
added; in May, 1831, thirty; in January and April, 1832, 
forty-two (under Mi'. Jewell's ministry), and in December of 
the same year, forty-three (under Mr. Wyckoif). The next 
time of special interest seems to have been in 1843, when Mr. 
Torrey was here, and when twenty united with the church at 
one comnninion. In 1882 in the fall, twenty-eight were 
brought into the church through Mr. Tyack. But in 1858 oc 



REVIVALS AND CHURCH WORK. 45 

curred tlie most sweeping and lasting of all the seasons of 
awakening. The following letter of Mr. Willard will best de- 
scribe it : 

'■ New York, December 15, 18S6. 

" Dear Sir : Sparta lias always been to me a place of great 
interest, and, I may say, of greater interest than any other of 
the places in which it was my lot to preach. It was there that 
I saw the greatest display of the power of God in the conver- 
sion of sinners that I ever saw nnder my own ministry. I Avas 
young and strong, and gave them the best that I had, and God 
added His blessing. The church contained about eighty mem- 
bers, and there were six elders. Da\^id Cory, and Job, his son, 
Zophar Halsey, Morris Wade, Moses Lanterman and Esquire 
Lennington. We had a good time together on earth, and I 
hope we will have a better one in Heaven. I had a revival of 
religion in Marshall, Mich., but I did not have sueh elders nor 
such help from the church. I suppose one reason why the 
revival of religion moved with such power was that the people 
were many of them great sinners, and they knew it. The 
people in some other places are as great sinners, but they do 
not know it. The winter before the revival there was a great 
deal of feeling, and we had very interesting prayer-meetings, 
l)ut there came a great thaw and broke up our meetings. But 
God kiiew what was best for His kingdom. The next winter 
('57 and '58) we began to hold our meetings in the Academy 
on Monday evening, and on Wednesday we moved into the 
church, where we met every night for eight Aveeks. I con- 
ducted the meetings and preached. Soon after they began we 
celebrated the Lord's Supper, and live or six persons joined the 
church. This added greatl^'^ to the interest of the meetings, 
and several persons were brought under the influence of the 
truth. At the end of four weeks the work was at its hight. 
Then the interest became so intense that religion was the great 
subject of conversation and everybody came to church. All 
other matters of business or pleasure were laid aside, and a 
pervading seriousness took possession of- the town. Persons 
came to church every night from three, four, and even five 
miles away. 

" Our measures were simple and uniform. No one was asked 
to stand up or come forward for prayers. There were no in- 
quiry meetings. The whole town was an inquiry meeting. I 
preached a sermon, and after it we had a pra\ er-meeting to 
which all remained, and at the close of the service a few re- 
mained and prayed with the inquirers. Nearly 100 joined the 



46 REVIVALS AND CHURCH WORK. 

churcli, of whom sixty -live were l)aptized. It was a solemn and 
an affecting sight. A great ])art of the persons present on that 
day are dead. They have gone into the w'orld of which we 
tlien spoke, and have seen the things of wliich tliey then 
lieard. That was a year of great revivals of religion all over 
tlie land, and just such a year as we now need. We had the 
presence of the Holy Spirit in His converting power hecanse 
we desired it and asked for it in the name of Christ. The 
Word had power. It was not only the minister who spoke 
with power, but every pious man who opened liis mouth had 
power, and every man felt that power. And some refused that 
offer and are dead. Some heard and are glad and will be so 
forever. What would I not give to see another such a work 
of grace before I die ! Yours very truly, 

" Livingston Willard." 

In the revival of which Mr. Willard speaks one of the con- 
verts was a lady on a visit here from Paterson. The first night 
she attended the services she seemed wholly unmoved and in- 
different, but when personally addressed slie burst into tears, 
and the next evening was rejoicing in a sense of pardon. 
Another, a young lady fi-oni Mendham, was converted, and as 
soon as she returned home arose in the prayer-meeting and 
told what the Lord had done for her soul, and went on to de- 
scribe what wonderful things the Lord was doing in Sparta. A 
powerful work of grace innnediately began, and many souls were 
brought to Christ. The Kev. R. E. Feagles, who afterward 
ministered here, was pastor of Mendham church at that time. 

Tnii Sabhath School. — There was a Sabbath School at 
North Ilardiston in ISIS, and there was most ])robably one 
here at the same time. The earliest record referring to this 
matter is found in Rob. Ogden's diary, where we find at the 
date, August 21, 1S20, the account of the expenditure of fifty 
cents for tAvelve prnners, fifty cents for twelve '' Watts's Cate- 
chisms," and six cents for six alphabets, evidently for the Sabbath 
School at S])arta. There were children enough here for one, for 
in 1815 the new school building, two stories high, was built. The 
superintendents have been, as far as remembered, Elias Beach, 
Squire Lennington, Manning, Morris Wade, II. B. Straight, Job 
Cory, F. C. Easton. The school now numbers sixty scholars 
and seven teachers. The officers and teachers are as follows : 
Job Cory, superintendent ; Eugene Cory, librarian and 
secretary, Mrs. Job C<»ry, Miss Phebe Congleton, Mrs Eugene 
Cory, Miss Jeauet Sutton, Miss Mary Sutton, Theodore 
Anderson. 



REVIVALS AND CHURCH WORK. 47 

The Sparta Mission Band was organized April 24, 1884, 
at the Parsonage. The officers are : Miss Kate M. Sutton, presi- 
dent ; ]\[iss feusie Durling, treasurer ; Miss Mary Sutton, 
secretary. The follow^ing have been members : Miss Mollie 
Folk, Miss Ella McDavitt, Miss Annie Morris, Miss Drusilla 
Washer, Miss Angle Decker, Miss Rene Dormida, Miss Jeniiie 
Slmman, Miss Mattie Brasted, Miss Laura Wilson, Miss Mamie 
Earl, Miss Bessie Lyon, Miss Ennna Gray. 

A Ladies' Aid Society has been in active operation for a 
number of years. The officers at present are : President, Mrs. 
T. F. Chambers; vice-president. Miss Phebe Congleton; 
treasurer, Mrs.W. E. Poss ; secretary, Mrs. Thomas Maley. The 
members at present are : Mrs. J. B. Titman, Mrs. Job Cory, 
Mrs. Eugene Cory, Miss Jane Congleton, Mrs. Casterline, Mrs. 
J. B. Boss, Miss Sherman, Mrs. Ilewes, Mrs. Imogene Lyons 
and Miss Abbe Lyons. 

Benevolence. — This church, having always been one of the 
smaller country churches, has never contributed at anj one 
time a very large amount to the benevolent boards of the 
church, but it has generally recognized its duty in this respect. 
Nevertheless it needs to cultivate this most essential grace of 
giving in the future more than it has in the past if it would 
not fall behind the large advance in this direction made by tlie 
church at large. 

Temperance. — The first temperance lecture in this village 
was delivered February 3, 1835, by Mr. Turner, agent of the 
New York Temperance Society. In the same year Wliitlield 
H. Hurd opened a temperance liouse and maintained it for 
seven years. He is therefore the pioneer in temperance work 
in this section. The Sons of Temperance, the Cadets of Tem- 
perance and the Rechabites were rejiresented by organizations 
here. In the time of Rev. William Torrey very earnest 
work was carried on in this direction and cases of drunkenness 
were comparatively rare. Maybie and English were warmly 
welcomed and held very large and successful meetings. As a 
result of these a very efficient and prosperous Reform Club 
was organized, together with an equally active and vigorous 
Woman's Christian Temperance IJnion. Union temperance 
prayer-meetings were held and largely attended every Sabbath 
afternoon. But unfortunate differences of opinion in connec- 
tion with the Presidential election in the fall of 1884 inter- 
fered, and the non-political Reform Club soon died and a 
nmch smaller Prohibition Club was organized in its place. 
The W. C. T. U. also died about the same time. The 
churches, ?s such, however, still maintain a monthly union 



48 BEVIVALS AND CHURCH WORK. 

teniperance service, and a marked improvement has taken place 
of later years in the drinking habits of the place. A temper- 
ance paper called the Spat'ta Signal was started by Colins San- 
ford in the month of March, 1885. At first pnblished monthly, 
it was made in September, 1886, a semi-monthly of larger size. 

The following were the meml)ers of the Sparta Division of 
the Sons of Temperance. Auijnst 20, 1852: 

0-tficers : Job. Cory, W. P. ; J. W. Mannintr, W. A. ; John 
B. Easton, R. S. ; David S. Corv, II. R. S. ; J. II. Shnman, 
H. S. ; J. F. Cisco, T. ; Vincent Carr, C. ; Chris. R. Pierson, 
A. C. ; Isaac Cory, I. S. ; Jonathan Black. O. S. 

Memhers: R. R. Smith, A. A. Stackhouse, Jas. Roe, T. J. 
Black well, B. P>radbury, Chas. Bcardsley, Chas. B. Bonkerj 
Gilman T. Cnmmings, Horace Decker, L. M. Drake, J. B. 
Dunlop, Sam. Ellett, Will. Gathany, Zophar Halsey, John 
Keepers, J. S. Bennington, W. Lanterman, John Lanterman, 
Jac. Moore, Will. L. Peters, Ben. Pitnej, Sam, Wright, Morris 
Wade, Jas. W. Rose, John Sickles, Jas. J. Slockbower, Isaac 
Seek, Geo. Slockbower, Edgar Manning, J. B. Bos:*, John 
Boss, Theo. Goble, Will. Ilulf, Daniel Higbie, Peter McPeek, 
Ziba S. Nichols, Jos. Morrison, Thos. S. Dedrick, John B. 
Hurd, W. Martin, AY. Gol)le, J. Bleary, Jac. Willice, P. R. 
Yansickle, Ben. Rol, D. Cushin, Sidney Smith. 



II.— MINISTERS. 

Hollo WAY WinTKrip:Ln Hunt, A. M., was born in Orange 
Conntv, N. Y., April i), 1769; graduated from the College of 
New Jei'sey, 179-i; was licensed by the Presbytery of ]S^ew 
Brunswick, December, 1794 ; ordained and installed over 
churches of Newton and Hardyston, June 17, 1795 ; became 
pastor of Bethlehem, Alexaiidria and Kingwood, Hunterdon 
County, X. J., in 1802; resigned the charge of Kingwood 
(about to be disl^anded), December 27, 1825, went over with 
the other two churches to the New School body in 1837 ; re- 
signed the charge of Bethleliem and Alexandria (Mount Pleas- 
ant) in 1842, after a pastorate of forty years ; and died January 
11, 1858, on his farm of 150 acres, near Midvale Station, in the 
eighty-nintl I year of his age. In 1804 he was one of the Com- 
missioners to the General Assembly from the Presbytery of 
New Brunswick. '' In the later years of his life he gave up 
the active duties of the ministry on account of increasing in- 
firmities." 

Barnabas King, D. D., was born near Marlboro', Mass., 
June 2, 1780; graduated from Williams College, September 5, 
1804; licensed by the Berkshire Association, Massachusetts, 
October 15, 1805 ; came to Sparta December 25, 1805, and 
soon began to preach there and also occasionally at Berkshire 
Valley and Rockaway ; tii'st sermon at the latter place was 
preached in a private house, January 24, 1800, on the text 
Eccles. 3:1; engaged as stated supply at Sparta, October 19, 
1806, for one-half the time for $200 a year; agreed to supply 
Rockaway one-half the time in October, 1807; called to be 
pastor of Rockaway, September 25, 1808; ordained and in- 
stalled, December 27, 1808 ; perhaps j)reached at Sparta for 
the year 1809; offered his resignation as pastor of Rockaway, 
1862, which was not accepted, and died soon after, April, 1862, 
in the eighty-second year of his age, after a pastorate of tifty- 
four years. He received his title of D. D. from AV^illiams Col- 
lege in 1860. 

Of Oliver Green nothing is known but what is contained 
in the inscription on his tombstone. It is certain, however, 
that he preached here l)efore his death. Dying away from 
home and kindred, and when he had hardly entered upon his 
life-work, he is laid away among strangers near the church 

W 



50 MINISTERS. 

whose service so soon cost liim his life. " lie frraduated at 
Dartiiiouth College, August 26, 1807 ; licensed by S. Wor- 
cester Association ; died at the house of Rob. Ogden, August 
24, 1810; he was the son <>f Oliver Green, of Ashbiii-nhain, 
England." 

Joseph L. Shafkk, 8. T. I)., M-as born at Stilhvatei', Sussex 
County, May 9, 1787; graduated at Princeton College, 1808; 
licensed by Presbytery of Xew Brunswick, October 2, 1810; 
was for two years a missionary in Monmouth Connty ; ordained 
and installed over Newton Church, June 17, 1812; j^astor at 
Middletown Point, August 20, 1835-38 ; received the degree 
of S. T. D. from Lafayette College, 1842 ; pastor of Xewton, 
1838-53 ; died November 13, 1853, in the sixty-seventh year of 
his age. He was struck with paralysiS in the pulpit while 
reading the last hymn. 

Noah Cuane was born at Montclair, X. J., July 14, 1780; 
ordained by the " Associated Presbytery of ]\[on-is County," 
November 16, 1803 ; received by the Presbytery of New 
Yoi'k, Orange Dale, December 10, 1806 ; pastor Blooming 
Grove, Orange County, N. Y., 1809-11 ; stated sujiply, Sparta, 
1816-30 (about) ; moved to Newark, 1845 ; died Septend)er 16, 
1851, aged seventy-one. 

MosKS Jewell, licensed by Presbytery of Mississippi with 
two others as *' extraordinary eases" ; received as licentiate by 
Tombeckbee Presbytery, November 11, 1829, and dismissed to 
Newark Presl)ytery, October 22, 183(»; stated supply, Sparta, 
August, 1830, to xVpril, 1832 ; installed pastor, Salem, Pa., 
September 24, 1833 ; stated supply at Great Bend, Pa., 1836 ; 
stated supply of 2d Newark, Tioga County, N. Y., 1837-8 ; 
stated supply, Peruville, N. Y., April, 1839, to September, 
1841 ; stated supply, Entield, N. Y., April, 1844, to April, 
1845 ; without charge, 1851 ; colporteur, Washington and 
Geoi'getown, D. C, 1852-62 ; without char<i;e, Albanv, N. Y., 
1863'; died 1804. 

James AVyckoff was i-eceived under care of the Presbytery 
of Newton, October 7, 1823; Graduated at College of 'New 
Jersey, 1829; Princeton Seminary, 1831 (in middle year); li- 
censed by Presbytery of Newton, October 5, 1831 ; missionary 
at Trancpiillity, Stillwater and Timber Swamp ; disuiissed Pres- 
bytery Newark, October 2, 1832; stated supply, Ilardyston 
(Spai-ta), September, 1832, to September, 1835 ; accepted call to 
Dover, October, 1S35 ; installed, November, 1835 ; died at 
house of his father-in-law, Ilev. Jos. Campbell, Ilackettstowr. 
]V[ay, 1838. Has a son a minister. He was probably ordained 
as an evangelist at the same time that he was licensed. 



MINISTERS. 51 

Ezra Fatrciiild Dayton was born at Meiidliam, X. J., June 
6, 1S()8 ; graduated College of New Jersey, 182('» ; principal of an 
academy, Baskingridge, X. J., 1826-9 ; ordained an evangelist 
by Presbytery Newark, January 14, 1831: ; stated supply at 
Augusta (Frankford), Sussex County, N. J., 1833-6 ; stated 
supply, Sparta, 1837-8 ; died, Sparta, N. J., October 2, 
1838. 

William Torrky was born at Mt. Pleasant, Wayne County, 
Pa., Septemlier 8, 1708 ; eldest son of "• Majoi-" Jason Torrey ; 

fraduated, Hamilton College, 1823 ; Andover Seminary, 1826 ; 
'rincetou Seminary for a few months, to enjoy better oppor- 
tunities to study the Spanish language ; member of the Society 
of Inquiry, Andover Seminary; missionary at Buenos Ayres 
and elsewhere in South America, " under the direction of the 
General Assembly," 1826-37; without charge, Forestburgh, 
Va., 1838 ; stated supply. Sparta, N. J., 1839, to September, 
1841:, and December, 1845, to April. 1846 ; without charge at 
Sparta, N. J., September, 1844, to December, 1845; stated sup- 
ply, Woodstock, Ya , September, 1846, to April, 1855 ; lived 
on his farm. Rolls County, Mo., 1855-8; died alone in a grain 
field, Jnly 1, 1858, aged sixty. 

Thomas Sydenham Ward was born Bloomfield, N. J., Octo- 
ber 23, 1811 ; graduated University of New York, 1835 ; Auburn 
Theological Seminary, 1835-7 ; Union Theological Seminary, 
1837-8 ; called to Hanover, August 26. 1839 ; ordained and. 
installed pastor, Ilanovei', October 29, 1839 ; resigned May 30, 
1841 ; without charge, Bloomfield, N. J., 1843 ; stated supply, 
Sparta, N. J., December, 1844, to December, 1845 ; without 
charge, Bloomfield, N. J., 1846-51 ; pastor, Carbondale, Pa., 
1858-64 ; died, Carbondale, Pa., February 13, 1864. 

Nathaniel Edwards Pierson was born Madison, N. J., 
January 7, 1814 ; graduated Williams College 1841 ; Union 
Theological Seminary, 1842-4 ; ordained (Congregationalist), 
July 11, 1844 ; stated supply. North Stamford, ConiL, 1844-5 ; 
stated supply, Sparta, April, 1846, to April, 1S50 ; pastor, 
Unionville and Westtown, N. Y.. 1850-7 ; pastor, Ilor.'^eheads, 
N. Y., 1857-61 ; chaplain United States army, 1862 ; pastor, 
Ridgebury, N. Y., 1863-9 j pastor, Escanaba, Mich., 1869-72; 
died quite suddenly of erysipelas, brought on by a cut received 
while helping build the steeple of his church, at Escanaba, 
Mich., May 19, 1872, aged fifty-eight. 

AViLLiAM Ilur-L ]\[i:gie was born in New York City, 
Septemlier 13, 1817 ; graduated University of New York, 1839 ; 
Union Theological Seminary, 1843-5; ordained, 1850-; stated 
supply, North Stamford, Conn., 1846-9; stated" supply 



62 MIMSIKIJS. 

WilHamstown, N. Y., 1S50; stated snpjily, Sparta, K. J., 
April, 1S51, to April, iJiSoS ; stated supply. West ]\Iilford, N. J., 
1852-5 ; stated supply, Junius, X. Y., 1S55-6 ; stated suj^ply, 
West Fayette, N. 1 ., 18r)()-!) ; stated supply, Xewfoundhmd, 
K. J., 1809-74; stated supply, Patersou. JSi. J., 1875 ; teacher, 
Jersey City, N. J., 1876-80 f died, Brooklyn, N. Y., May 31, 
1880, aged sixty-two. Williatn Megie had two brothers in the 
ministry : Daniel E. Megie., born in New York City, who was 
pastor at Suct-asunna, 1840-4; Boonton, 1844—72; emeritus, 
Boonton, till his death. May IG, 1880. Buvtis C. Mefjk\, pastor 
at Dover thirty-seven year?, at Pleasant Grove eleven years, 
and ordained forty-eight years. 

Daniel IIigbie was born Long Island, N. Y., 1816; left 
Yale College, 1836, in third year ; entered Princeton Seminary, 
1836; ordained, Presbytery Montrose, September 23, 1840; 
stated supi)ly. Mount Pleasant, Pa., 1839-42; pastor, 1842-46; 
stated supj)ly, West Milford,xS. J. ,1848-51; stated sujiply, Sparta, 
K J., April, 1852, to April, 1853; pastor, April," 1853 to 
Decenil)er, 1855 ; without charge, Xewark, N. J., 1857-8 ; 
pastor, Washingtonville, N. Y., 1858-67 ; died, Spencer Springs, 
N. Y., October 20, 1867, aged fifty-one. 

Livingston Willard was born Albany, N. Y., August 7, 
1816 ; graduated. Union College, 1842 ; graduated Union Theo- 
logical Seminary, 1844; licensed, 1844, by Third New York 
Presbytery ; ordained, Classis of Albany (R. D. Church), 
December 3, 1844 ; stated supply and jxistor. Gal way, 
^tSai-atoga County, N. Y., 1844-7; pastor, Peekskill, N. Y., 
1847-8 ; stated supply, Ilaverstraw, N. Y., 1849-51 ; pastor 
(Congregational), North Stamford, Comi., 1852-6 ; pastor, 
Sparta, N. J., 1856-60; pastor, Port Jervis, N. Y., 1860-1; 
stated supply, Sparta, N. J., January, 1862, to January, 1863 ; 
pastor, Marsliall, Mich., 1863-8 ; without charge, Yonkers, 
A. Y., 1868-72 ; without chaige, New York City, 1872, to the 
j)resent time (January, 1887). 

William Lewis Moore was born New York, March 10, 
1S33 ; graduated, Rutgers Colleo^e, 1854 ; graduated, Prince- 
ton Seminary, 1856; ordained, Presbytery Luzerne, July 21, 
1857 ; pastor, Wyoming, Pa., 1857-8 ; ])astor, West Milford, 
N. J., 1858-60 ; stated supply, Sparta, 18r)0-l ; New Bruns- 
wick, 1861-3 ; stated supply, New Providence, 1863-64 ; 
lastor, 1864-70 ; stated supply. Fort Lee, 1872-3 ; resided in 
ersey City, 1870 to the jiresent time (January, 1887). 

Francois Eben Mekkiam Baohelek was born at Douglas, 
Mass., July 8, 1818 ; graduated from Brown University, 1847, 
Union Theological Seminary, 1850 ; licensed New York and 



\ 



MIMSTKKS. 53 

Brooklyn Association ; urdained (Congregationalist), iMay 16, 
1854; stated supply and pastor, Brooklyn, N. Y., 1851-7; 
pastor, Patcliogne (L. I.), N. Y., 1858-9 ; stated supply, Kil- 
lingly (Dayville), Uonn., 1859-62 ; without charge, Lebanon, 
Conn., 1862-3; pastor, Sparta, N. J.. 1861-70; stated supply, 
Killingly (Dayville), * onn., 1871-8; stated supply, Wood- 
stock, Conn., 1878, to the present time (January, 1887). 

Robert Stoutexburg Feagles was born in Amity, N. Y., 
December 27, 1831 ; graduated from College of Xew Jersey, 
1856, Princeton Seminary, 1859; ordained, Presbytery Rocka- 
way, October 23, I860; pastor, Mendliani, N. J., 1860-9; 
pastor, Mt. Olive, 1869-70 ; stated supply, Sparta, N. J., 
1870-1; pastor, Mt. Freedom, 1871-8; stated supply, 
Morris Plains, 1878-81 ; stated supply, Lafayette, Sussex 
County,]^". J., June, 1882, to June, 1883 ; stated, supply, Menc- 
ken, Da., 1884 ; without charge, 1885 to the present time (Janu- 
ary, 1887). 

WiLLTA:Nr Bergstregser McKee was born at Boalsburgh, 
Centre County, Pa., May 22, 1829 ; baptized by Pvev. Wm. 
Stuart same year ; admitted to communion, 1847 ; attended 
Boalsburgh Academy, 1839-40 ; Mt. Pleasant College, Pa., 
1851-3 ; graduated from West. Theological Seminary, 
1858 ; licensed Allegheny City Presbytery, at Allegheny City, 
1857; ordained by the same in the same church as home mis- 
sionary under appointment of the Home Mission Board (O. S.) 
to labor at Bayfield and Ashland, Wis., and to secure the 
reorganization of Lake Superior Presbytery, dissolved the _year 
previous by the death of T. R. Elder ; entered upon work at 
Bayfield and Ashland, May 24, 1858 ; became pastor of Bald 
Eagle Church, Pa., February 1, 1863 ; of Silver Spring Church, 
Pa., September 20, 1868 ; of Sparta Church, New Jersey, Octo- 
ber 29, 1871 ; home missionary at Franklin Furnace, April 
1, 1876 ; home missionary at McCune and Cherokee, Kan., 
April 1, 1878 ; home missionary, Arlington, 111., January 1, 
1883; home missionary, Keithsburgh, March 1. 1885, to the 
present time (January, 1887). 

JouN Smedes Hanna w^as born at Boston, Mass., December 
4, 1834; attended college without graduating; graduated 
from Andover Seminary July, 1861 ; licensed Lowell Associa- 
tion ; ordained Presbytery Cleveland, September 3, 1862 ; 
stated supply, Richford (C\)ngregational), K. Y., 1863-4; 
stated supply. Great Bend (Pres.), Pa., 1864-5 ; 
stated supi)ly, Gloucester City, N. Y., 1866-7; stated sup- 
ply, Anderson, Ind., 1867-8; stated supply, Erie St. Mis- 
sion, Chicago, III, 1868-9 ; editor Masonic Magazine, 



64: MINIS'IKUS. 

Chicago, ill., 18t)'J-7(»: " iiiiscellaTieous preaching," New 
York City, 1870-2 ; istatctl siiii])ly, Ainenia, K. Y., January, 
1872, to April, 1873 ; " niiscellancons preaching," Is'ew York 
City, 1873-6; stated supj)ly, Sparta, N. J., November, ls76, 
to November, 1877 ; evangelist, 1877 ; Bald Mountain, Pa., 
1878-9 ; 1880-1, without charge ; teacher, Chicago, III, 1882 
to the ])resent time (January, 1887). 

Thomas Tyack was born " in the South of England, 1848 ; 
converted at twelve years of age ; came to the United States at 
eighteen, and joined tlie Presbyterian Church of Dover ; re- 
turned to P^ni-land and graduated fn^m a eolleije combininoj 
classical and theological studies in 1878 ; licensed in London, 
February, 1873 ; returned to the United States, July, 1873 ; 
began a special course of theological study under my old pas- 
tor in Septeinl)er, 1873; received as a licentiate under the care 
of Morris and Orange Presbytery April, 1874 ; ordained by 
the same body, May 11>. 187(» ; and same day installed pastor of 
Berkshire Valley Church ; began ni}^ labors in Sparta as stated 
supply, April, 1878 ;" installed May 19, 1880; pastor. Water 
Gap January, 1884-6 ; pastor, Bethesda Chapel, Brooklyn, 
1886 to the present time (January, 1887). 

TiiEODORK Fkki.tnghuysen Chamhkks was born May 14, 1849, 
at Raritan, Somei'set County. N. J.; graduated from the College 
of City of New York, 1868; gi-aduated Union Tlicolog- 
ical Seminary, 1871 ; licensed 1)V Presbytery New York, 
1871 ; teacher, New York City, September, 1871, to June, 
1872 ; ordained and installed Ponds (Reformed Dutch Church, 
Oakland), N. J., Octol)er, 1872 ; pastor. First Wantage (Clove, 
Deckertown), February, 1876, to February, 1883 ; without charge, 
February. 1883, to January, 1884; pastor, Sparta, N. J., January, 
1884, to March, 1887 ; installed, May 27, 1884— Rev. Talbot W. 
(Chambers, of New York, father of the pastor-elect, preached 
the sermon; Rev. J. W. Coleman delivered the charge to the 
pastor and Rev. A. 11. Young the charge to the people; 
accepted a call to German Valley, N. J.. January 27, 1887, to 
beg n labor there Ajn-il 1, 1887. 

There were two ministers besides the first jiastor of the 
Sparta Church who bore the name of Ilolloway Whitfield 
llunt. One was born at S})ai-ta, 1799, and preached at Pleas- 
ant Grove Church, Schooley's IVIountain, for thirty-nine years, 
liis first and only charge. The other was a son of the first II. 
AV. Hunt's brother, Garner, and was j)reaching at Centreville, 
N. Y., when he died in 1882. There is a lawyer of the same 
name at Schooley'slMountain, a grandson of II. W. Hunt, No. 1, 
and son of II. W. Hunt, No. 2. 



MmiSTEKS. 55 

Mr. Plerson died while tlie General Assembly, of wliicli he 
had been appointed a commissioner, was in session, and the 
following; expressions in the resohitions passed by that l)ody 
attest the esteem in which lie was held by the denomination : 
"A o-ood and faithfnl co-worker, and the chnrch, especially in 
the West, is deprived of a minister of large experience, eminent 
devotion and practical Christian wisdom^ — who, having spent 
more than thirty years as a snccessfnl pastor in the East, ever 
loyal to his convictions of dnty and the indications of Provi- 
dence, went to the far West," &c. Mr. Pierson's remains were 
bronirht to Pidgebnry for interment, where his wife and two 
children are buried. One of his daughters married Pev. W. W. 
Page, a pastor in the city of New York. 

The following letters will be of interest. The originals are 
in the possession of Rev. Mr. Haines and Edmund Halsey, Esq., 
of Pockaway. 

" To Mr. Barnahas King, Licentiate under the care of the 
Preshyter'y of New York — Sir : I am authorized by tlie trus- 
tees of the First Presbyterian Church in Hardyston, the Church 
Session and the congregation at large to put into your hands a 
call, which I hereby do, to preach at the meeting-house in 
Sparta every second Sabbath for one year, commencing the 
third Sabbath in October, instant, and for your support they 
have agreed to pay you, in quarterly payments, the sum of $50, 
making $200 for the whole year. This call is considered by 
them as preparatory (in case it should be agreeable to both 
parties) to their giving you at the end of the year a regular and 
formal call to take upon you the pastoral charge of the said 
church. 

" Pobp:rt Ooden, one of the elders of the said church." 

"Sparta, October 6, i8o6 " 

" MiLTOV, Aug-ust 7, j[8ii. 

" Dear Sir : When last I saw you I expected that it would 
have been in my power to have visited your churches once 
more during the summer, but on account of an ap])ointment by 
Presbytery for one month in the lower part of the State, I find 
it out of my power. The communications made to me by the 
authority of your church caused me iio little anxiety in my 
mind in regard to the conduct proper to be pursued by me. 
I must confess, sir, that it is indeed a trying thing to me to 
say no, when the unanimous voice of the people calls me for 
their pastor. I must further say that my inclination, and ]ier- 
ha]>s duty, bid me go. Yet, sir, there is one thing which I have 
intimated to you (and which doubtless you will admit is a thing 
of no small importance to me) that seems to oppose. I mean 



56 MINISTKHS. 

tlie small salary that you otter. The probability is, judging 
from the exertions you have made, that even this would not be 
punctually ])ai<l. There has not a single eall come before our 
Presbytery since I have been under its care that hath not of- 
fered more than this. 

" Gentlemen of my acquaintance who have settled upon a 
salary of ij^r.oO have told me that they find this l)arely sufficient 
for their sup])ort ; some sav it will not do it. Xotwitiistanding 
all this (it is in confidence 1 s])eak), if you will unite with New- 
ton and present a joint call with them, the probability is I will 
accept it. Then [it] after a trial of three or even two years it 
appears that you can pay .$500, I will then take a dismifsion 
from New Brunswick Presbytery and leave Newton, taking 
charge solely of your congregation. More than this you ought 
not reasoiuibly to expect. 1 expect, even shoidd this be the 
ease, to be under the necessity of merely living from hand to 
mouth, but if by this the Redeemer's Kingdom should be 
advanced I should feel myself richly compensated. The event 
I leave with an all-wise Providence. 

'' This week, God jiermitting, I am to leave home, and do not 
expect to return until the last of September. What you do I 
wish done by the time Presbytery meets at Newton, iirst Tues- 
day of October. 

" From your humble servant, 

" Jos. L. Shafer." 

"Rob. Ogden, Esq., 

"Span a, Sussex County.'" 

Students for the Ministry. 

Only one person has as yet entered the ministry from this 
church — viz., Rev. Z. K. P)radl)ury. lie says : *' From the age 
of about eight years until I left my native village, I was a 
member of the Presbvterian Sabbath school, and a regular at- 
tendant u])on the Sabbath services there. My mother was a 
member of the INIethodist Episcopal Church, and to please her 
I united with that church. When I left home to enter upon 
my preparatory course of study, I united with the Presbyterian 
Church in Bloomtield, N. J. ^[y early religious training was 
received in the Presbyterian Sabbath school under the instruc- 
tions of my teacher, Mr. Burnham, and pastors Torrey and 
Pierson. I was converted in the winter of 1843, mIicu only 
thirteen years old." 

Elder Fokd W. RocuErj.E is still a student for the ministry 
in the middle year at Princeton Theological Seminary, having 
graduated from Pi-iiu-eton College, 1884. He was born in 



MIMSTKKS. 57 

Sparta, N. J. ; was converted under the ministry of Rev. W. 
B. MeKee, and united with tlie church and decided to devote 
liiinself to the ministry under the intlnence of Re\'. J. S. 
Hanna, Jnly 1, 1877. 

ZiBA Nichols Bradbury, wlio really entered the ministry 
from this church, although a member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church, was born near Sparta, March 24, 1830 ; prepared 
for collcj-e at Bloomtield. X. J. ; graduated from Yale College, 
1859 ; fro)?i the Union Theological Seminary, X. Y., 18fi2 ; 
licensed by the Chemung Presbytery, Elmira, X. Y., January 
28, 1862 ; ordained by Presbytery Steuben, Howard, N. Y., 
January 14, 1863 ; stated supply, Howard, IST. Y., 1862-6 ; 
stated supply, Pulteney, X. Y., 1867-72 ; pastor, Howard, 
X. Y., 1872-6 ; installed pa.^tor, Pulteney, X. Y.. July. 1876, 
where he is still laboring. 

The following interesting reminiscence is from one who 
•• used to play on that village green and taught school in the 
schoolhouse " many years ago. She says : '' Don't I remem- 
ber that old church with its high, straight-backed pews, and 
how I used to play with the button on the doors at each end, 
when I could not see over them, and get my ears snapped for 
it, too ; and the high, winding stairs to the old bo.x-pul})it with 
a sounding-board overhead, ver}' much like a big umbrella to 
an express wagon nowadays ! And how it would shake when 
the Bible was pounded in the days of the Rev, Xoah Crane ! I 
always had him associated with Xoah's Ark, because of his age 
and venerable a})pearance and ncmie. He had ' his hearers all 
under conviction,' he used to say, when he lived in Xewark 
and preached to tlie 'spirits in prison' (the penitentiary). 
After Mr. Crane [came] ^fr. Wyckotf. He used to have the 
children come to his house Saturday afternoon, and [to] hold 
a meeting with them. The first time I went, he read about 
Josiah and talked about him. ' He began to serve tlie Lord 
when he was eight years old.' That was the beginning of my 
religious impressions. I think I was between eight and nine, 
then, and 1 thought going home, well, I am as old as he was, 
how can I serve the Lord ? And from that time I was the 
subject of very deep impressions. And I believe in the early 
conversion of children, and Spurgeon advocates early conver- 
sions. Dear, good ^Ir. Dayton lies back of the church. I stood 
beside the open grave as he was lowered, and the choir sang : 

' Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb ; 
' Take this new treasure to thy trust.' 

" I think ^[r. Torrey came next, and I have never loved any 
man in the ministry as I did P^ather Torrey." 



III.— THE ELDERS. 

Jonatlian Sutton, died FL'l)niarv 2, 181S ; Robert Ofjdeii, died 
Feoniary 14, 182<) ; .]t)iiat]ian Sliarj), joined the Baptists, Janu- 
ary 31, '1819 ; Nicliolas Bjrani, ordained April 8, 1809, died 
March 15, 1819 ; William Corwin, Jr., ordained September 27, 
1812, died September 3^), 1821 ; John Linn, ordained Septem- 
ber 27, 1812, dismissed May 14, 1819; Johnson N. Gould, or- 
dained November 8, isis. dismissed May 14, 1819; George 
I^uckley, ordained March 28, 1819, dismi'ssed Mdy 14, 1819 ; 
Samuel Jolinson, ordained April 11, 1819, died October 1, 1822 ; 
Elijah Curtis, ordained January 4, 1824, dismissed to Methodist 
Episcopal Church December 30, 1880; Elias Beach, ordained 
July 17, 1820, dismissed May 25, 1849; James Braisted, or- 
dained November 9, 1828, dismissed May 29, 1850 ; Matthias 
H. Ogden, ordained November 9, 1828, dismissed November, 
1832 ; Dan. P. Lanterman, ordained November 9, 1828, dis- 
missed Fe])ruary 18^ 1846 ; John Lenniiigton, ordained October 
30, 1831, died August 1, 1879 ; David Cory, ordained October 30, 
1831, died October 14, 1870 ; Henry C. Beach, ordained Octo- 
ber 30, 1831, dismissed March 19, 1847 ; Henry Beach, ordained 
July 15, 1844, dismissed April 24, 1848 ; Sering Wade, ordained 
July 15, 1844, dismissed 1853 ; Zophar Ilalsey, ordained Feb- 
rua"ry 12, 1854, died April 12, 1872 ; Job Cory, ordained Feb- 
ruary 12, 1854 ; Moses Lanterman, ordained February 12, 1854, 
died November 4, 1878 ; Morris AVade, ordained February 12, 
1854, dismissed 1860 ; Levi Congleton, ordained June 1, 1873, 
died November 26, 1879 ; Harvey B. Strait, ordained June 1, 
1873, resigned 1S76 ; Frank C. Easton, ordained June 1, 1873, 
dismissed Januarv, 1887 ; AVilliam Bidc'ell, ordained April 11, 
1880; Ford W. Bochelle, ordained Ai)ril 11, 1880; J. Byram 
Hop))augh, ordained April 10, 1883. 

AV ithout the active co-operation of the eldership, no pastor 
can accomplisli much. To these worthy men is therefore due, 
under God, a large ])art of the credit of bringing the churcli 
safely through troublous times, and handing down to us unim- 
paired the heritage they received from the fathers. Of those 
who have died, the most eminent in public life were Robert 
Ogden, of whom a full account is given elsewhere, and John 
Linn. The latter " was of Irish descent, and born in Hard- 
wick Township. He was appointed Judge of the Common 



THE ELDERS. 59 

Pleas in 1805. and reappointed 1810, 1815 and 1820. He repre- 
sented the Fourth District of l^ew Jersey in Congi-ess for two 
terms, and wliile tliere, in the winter of 1832, he was taken ill 
and died of typhoid fever." His body was brought from 
"Washington all the way in a sled, and bnried at the North 
Church. John Lennington, Esq., was an elder for the longest 
term of service, forty-eight years. He was one of the most in- 
fluential men of the community. Having obtained a good 
education in early life, he also possessed a native vigor of mind 
that made him a wise councillor, and an efficient administrator 
of any office he might be chosen to till. His loss was deeply 
felt on his death, 18Y9, in the eighty-ninth year of his age, after a 
long and painful illness. Of those still in active service. Job 
Cory has been an elder for the period of thirty-two years, and 
is still in unimpaired vigor of health and strength, and render- 
ing most efficient service. F. W. Rochelle is the youngest, and 
has been for two years a student for the ministry in Princeton 
Serainarv. 



IV.— TRUSTEES. 

The followinrj are the names of those who have been elected 
trustees for one or more terms. 

The date is tlie time of first election or of first mention in 
the reeorrls. These are so defective that this list is only 
approximately correct. 

1786. — Rol)ert OirJen, Esq., Christopher IIoaLdand, Charles 
Beardslee, ('hristopher Longstreet, Japliet Byram, Robert 
Ogcien, Jr., Esq., Thomas Yan Kirk. 

The ahove Avere the trustees when the church was incorpo- 
rated. There are no h'sts of trustees until 1S31, Avhen the 
following names apjDear : 

1831. — Jas. Braisted, Elias Beach, Ilartman Kimble, Henry 
C. Beach, Nicholas Byram ; 1832, Peter Yan Kirk, James 
S. Morrow, Henry C. Beach, Isaac Hnrd, "\V. B. Ayres, 
Chas. AckorsoTi, David Cory ; 1833, John Lennington. Levi 
Congleton ; 1830, D. M. Sayre, Pierson Ilurd, Abm. "Winter- 
nmte; 1838, Eobt. Braisted, Whiteiield H. Hurd, Zophar 
Halsey. 

1840.— Henry C. Crane, Jas. Yan Kirk; 1S42. Jabez T. 
Johnson; 1843, John Boss, ,Tohn R. Stuart: 1844, Thomas 
Dustan, J. B. Easton, H. AVarren Ogden : 184*;, Morris Wade, 
Sam. W. Cory ; 1S53, John L. Goble"^ Aaron 11. Kelsey ; 1864, 
Sidney Smith, J. II. Shuman, Wm. II. Maines; 1857, J. L. 
Munson, John George ; 1860, Hiram M. Sands ; 1868, B. Brad- 
bury ; 1874, II. B. Strait ; 1860, J. P. Iloppaugh, Dan. S. Maines ; 
1863, J. Havens, H. H. Moore, G. B. Craig, Calvin Beattie. 
John Decker ; 1866, M. L. Beardslee, J. B. Boss, Wm. Riddle, 
T. H. Andress; 1867, C. Y. Boss, F. C. Easton; 1876, Levi 
Congleton, Stephen Rochelle, Henry Folk. StcAvart Welch, 
Jos. M. Dunlap, J. B. Easton; 1878, Manning Dunlap ; 1879, 
James Shafer ; 1880, Frank House ; 1882, Chas. Halsey, 
S. B. Stanaback, F. W. Rochelle ; 1883, David Kinney, Levi 
Case; 1885, J. II. Sutton; 1886, David Byram, Theodore 
Anderson. 

In two cases the action of the ti'ustees is worthy of mention : 
In July, 1837, it was proposed to defer the contemplated 
repairing of the church on account of the severe stringency in 
money matters prevalent thronghont the country. This oc- 
casioned the following spirited resolution : 

'' Resolved,, That the ' earth is the Lord's and the fullness 



TRUSTEES. 61 

thereof ; ' that tlic cause in which we are engaged is tlie 
Lord's, and that good causes are most common Ij triumphant, 
and that we persevere in tlie work and trust the event to 
Providence." 

The other is on occasion of tlie deatli of Rev. E. F. Dayton, 
wlien the trustees took charge of the funeral ceremonies, fur- 
nished a burial plot and defrayed the expenses of the interment 
and of a tombstone. The resolutions passed by them at the 
time may be found below. It is also to be noted that the 
method of raising money by renting the pews was adopted for 
a time (1858), but with M^hat success is not stated. At one 
time the envelope plan was adopted, but this excellent method 
seems also to have died a natural death. 

" Wlcereas^ Our dearly beloved pastor, fiev. Ezra F, Dayton, 
after a long and painful sickness, which he endured with Chris- 
tian resignation, has been folded in the cold embrace of death, 
which mournful event has pervaded our village with gloom ; 
and, 

" Whereas^ In his demise the congregation has sustained an 
irreparable loss, inasmuch as he possessec a mind of the high- 
est order, and was endowed with rare virtues and inestimable 
qualities, being eminently iitted for the high office of a 
preacher of the Gospel of Christ, and that he was the zealous 
laborer, the meek Christian and the truly kind and amiable 
husband. Therefore, 

" Resolved^ That in paying a tribute of respect, and ex- 
pressing a sense of profound regard for the deceased, we ask 
as a favor of the near relations that his body may be interred 
in our village burial ground, and that proper persons be 
appointed to make the necessary arrangements for the funeral, 
ifec, &c." 

The Church Edifice. 

The present building has the same frame as the first, with 
the addition of a vestibule. So large and massive are the tim- 
bers that they promise to last another hundred years to 
come. The old church had three doors, one on each side as 
well as in the front. The seats were at first only hewn logs 
awkwardly supported. The galleries and the steeple were 
added about 1804 or 180.5. The enclosed seats afterward put 
in were made with the straightest possible backs, and so high 
that small children could not see over them. The pulpit was 
of the old style, high up and overshadowed with the inevitable 
sounding-board. The church was until later years entirely 
unheated. The more luxurious people carried foot-stoves to 



62 TRUSTEES. 

clinrcli, and the rest probably became accustomed to fitting in 
the cold. At all events, no minister of that early date would 
have been guilty of preaching a short sermon, whatever the 
temperature might be. Episcopal ministers even preached an 
iiour and a half (as, for example, Uzal Ogden, of Xewton). To 
withhold any subdivision of a tlieme, however minute, or any 
reference, however renujte, would have seemed like tritiing 
with the word of God both to preacher and hearer. After the 
repairs on the church were finished in 1838, it was dedicated 
February 15, and Mr. P^iirchild preached the sermon, Rev. Mr. 
Allen also being present. 

The trustees at some time before 1805 appear to liave insti- 
tuted suits before Justice Thomas Lawrence against seven 
parties for various amounts from $().()2 up to $26.08. In three 
of these judgment is entered by default ; in one judgment is 
entered ; in two the action is dismissed, and in one withdrawn. 
Elias Ogden and Joseph Hurd (of Hurdtown) are assignees of 
the trustees for the purposes of the trial. These actions may 
have been for the recovery of subscrijitions for the building of 
the steeple and galleries, which were being built about 180-1. 
They show the difficulty experienced then in raising money 
even when it was sul)scribed. 

The First Presbyterian Church of llardyston was repaired in 
1837 and 1869. The following are the subscriptions on both 
occasions : 

December, 183Y. 

Clergyman — Kev. E. F. Dayton. 

Trustees — D. Cory, H. C. Beach, D. M. Say re, treasurer ; 
P. Hurd, secretary; P. Van Kirk, Wm. A3^res, A. AVintermute. 

Bu'tldinf/ Committee — D. Cory, D. M. ISayre, H. C. Peach, 
P. Van Kirk. 

Cotitractor — Pierson Hurd. 

Chief Carpenter — Thomas Kirkpatrick. 

Assistant Carpenters — T. Beardslee, S. "Wright, A. McDavit, 
M. Thorp, J. Clark. 

CI uef Mason — C. Hurd. 

Expense of repairs, $1200. 

SUBSCRIPTIONS : 

D. Cory $100.00 P. Van Kirk $25.00 

P. Hurd 100.00 H. C. Beach 25 00 

E. Pierson 50.CO Wm. B. Ayres 25.00 

J. Bedell 50.00 W. H. Hurd 25.00 

J. Breasted 50.00 N. Hurd 25.00 

S. Wade 50.00 J. Lennington 25. co 

D. M. Sayre 25.00 M.Morrow 25.00 



TRUSTEES. 



63 



H. 

M. 

N. 

E. 

L. 

C. 

"W 

D. 

L. 

J. 

R. 

J. 

D. 

M. 

H. 

T. 

A. 

T. 

J. 

J. 

J. 

E. 

J. 

M. 

J. 

S. 

J. 

M. 



(Subscriptions 

Kelsey $25.00 

William 25 00 

Crane 25 00 

Beach 25.00 

Thurman 25 00 

Ackerson 25.00 

. Ayres 25.00 

P. Lanterraan 20.00 

Davitr, Jr 20.00 

Hurd 20.00 

R. Morris ... 20.00 

Goble 20.00 

Roe 20.00 

Corvvin 15.00 

Beardslee 15.00 

Hurd 1 5.00 

Wintermute 10 00 

Halsey 10.00 

Decker 10.00 

Coursen 10 00 

Campbell 1000 

Breasted S.co 

Pierson, Sr 500 

Woodruff 5.00 

Durlmg 5.00 

M. Gill 5. CO 

Morrow 5.00 

Pitnev 5 . 00 

Total 



cotilimied.) 

P. Stiles 

J. Cummings. . . . 

T. McDavit , 

T. Diistin 

H. Osborne 

A. Chidester. . . . 

H. Clark 

J. Van Kirk 

T. B. Beardslee. . 

N. Byram 

J. Kelsey 

J. Ross 

M. L Cox 

J. Aber 

W. Lanterman . . 

S. Woodruff 

C. Hurd 

J. Stiles 

H. Pulas 

W. Pulas 

C. Durling 

S. Durliug 

G. Beatty . . 

E. Pierson . . . . 

J. Wh.tefoid 

A. S. Lawrence. 
A. Sherman 



, S5.00 
5-t^o 
5.<o 
5 00 
500 
5 00 
5.00 
5 00 
5-00 
5.00 
5.00 
5.00 
5 00 

5 CX) 

5 00 
5.00 
5-00 
5.00 
5.00 
5.00 
5.00 
5. CO 
5.00 
3 00 
3.00 
3.00 
4.00 

51156.00 



Decembek, 1869. 

Cleryyman — Eev. F. E. M. BaeJielcr. 

Trustees — Job Cory, president ; Zopliar Halsey, M. L. 
Beardslee, Ben j. Bradbury, Clias. V. Ross, William Riddell, 
Hiram M. Sands, secretary and treasurer. 

Bh tiding Committee — Benj. Bradbury, Zophar Halsey, 
Chas. Y. Boss. 

Chief of Repairs — M. L. Beardslee. 

Chief Carpenter — Benj. Sutton. 

Chief Mason — Patrick Quinn. 

Assistant Carpenters — J. H. Sliuman, C. McCormaek, 

SUBSCRIPTIONS : 



Zcphar Halsey $250.00 

Job Cory 200 00 

H. B. Strait 200.00 

Wm. A. Wood 200.00 

M. L. Beardslee 100 00 

Jas. B. Titman 50.00 

W. H. Hurd 50 00 

Henry Folk 50.00 

T. H. Andress 100.00 

Maj. John Boss 50.00 



Mrs. Dav. Cory 50.00 

Mills Van Kirk ^0.00 

Bf'DJ. Bradbury 25.00 

Wm. Earles 25.00 

Mary Brasted 25.00 

Moses Lanterman 2500 

Rob. Mabee 25.00 

John A. Pottpr 30 00 

Dan. S. Maines 25 00 

Jas. Van Kirk 25.00 



5 


oo 


5 


oo 


2.00 


I 


oo 



64 TKUSTEKS. 

{Subscriptions continued.) 

C. V. Boss $20.oo John B. Titman $io.oo 

Rev. F. E. M. Bacheler. . . . 20.00 D. F. Lyon 10 00 

H. H. Moore 20 00 James L. Munson 10.00 

Isaac Goble, Jr 20.00 Hiram C. Freeman 10.00 

Wm. H. Maines 20 00 Mary Pullis . . 10.00 

J. Lennington 25.00 Mahlon Goble 10.00 

Chas. Durlmg 20 00 Mrs. Siilney Smith 10.00 

J. H. Shuman 20.00 F. C. Easton 10.00 

J. W. Longcor 20.00 Levi Congleton .... 10.00 

Henry Hammell 20.00 John Kays 10.00 

J. B Boss 20.00 James B. Stanaback 10.00 

Jas. L. Decker 20 00 Isaac Osborne 5.00 

Rob. P. Washer 20.00 S E. Condit 5.00 

Philip Sinney 20.00 Chas. Halsey 5 00 

John Decker 15. 00 Sam. Hammell 5.00 

Wm. P. Smith 12.00 Abraham Chapin 5.00 

Henry Dunlap (work) 14 00 Esther Morrison 5.00 

Hiram M Sands 10.00 Jane Dustan 

John F. Wood 10.00 Martha Francisco 

Rob. K. Adams 10.00 Mrs. Rob. Mills 

Martha Osbom 10.00 Mary Chidester 

Abraham Wintermute 10.00 

Total $2074.00 

John Georo^e, Esq., gave $50 toward putting in a recess, and 
furnislied and fitted the puljnt. The cost of rejiairing the 
churcli in ISOD came to nearly doul)le the anionnt of tlie sub- 
scription — viz., $4000, and in January, 1870, the trustees bor- 
rowed $2000 of John George. Other indebtedness was added, 
and the church became seriously embarrassed. But Mrs. David 
Cory by successive payments contrilmted in all about $2000 
toward the deljt, and $1000 was provided for by a special sub- 
scription, dated Xovenil>cr, 1875. When the church was last 
rejiaired, in 1869, a small matter of disagreement in regard to 
furnishing it became greatly exaggerated, and intense bitterness 
of feeling arose. This led to very serious impropriety of be 
havior, which did an injury to the church, from which it still 
continues to a certain extent to suffer. 

Choristers. 

Major John Boss, Elias Beach, AVhitelield Ilurd and F. C. 
Easton. J\[r.^. Whitetield-llurd and ] )r. .Madison played the organ. 
The accompaniment to the singing Avas at first on stringed in- 
struments, and at the present time Mr. ^V. llurd still lends the 
aid of his flute to the music of our choir. The first musical 
instrument, a melodeon, was procured in 1856, and used on the 
first Sabljath Mr. Willard preached— viz., May 18. Mrs. White- 
field Kurd was the player. A second instrument, a cabinet 
organ, was purchased in 1866 with the proceeds of the Loan 



TRUSTEES. 65 

Exhibition, and first used October 14. Mrs. Fanny C. Boss 
played in the niorniiio;, and Mrs. W. H. Hurd in tlie evening. 
In 1879 the present instnniient was bought at a cost of $250. 
The first bell was put in the steeple June 29, 1839. A piece 
was broken out of it on July 4, 1850, and a new one was put in 
its place November 9, 1850. The first weighed 550 pounds, 
the second 25 pounds less. (Mr. W. II. ITurd's Diary.) 

(5) 



V. -OGDENSBUKGII. 

This village received its name from the Ogdeiis. It is said 
to have been once called Sodom. As late as 1848, there M-ere 
but five houses in the place — one near where George's Hotel 
is ; another a schoolhouse across the ■way ; a third where 
McEntee lives ; a fourth on the site of John George's resi- 
dence* occupied by Rohrick ; a fifth near the railroad, occupied 
bj Johnson. At the above date the .New Jersey Zinc Com- 

Jany began active operations and houses began to be erected, 
ohn George became superintendent in 1 853, and opened the 
first store in the village. A store had been kept by the Lanter- 
mans since 1821, just south of the village. On the comple- 
tion of the old New Jersey Midland liaih-oad in 1872, the iirst 
tavern was opened. A post-office had been established since 
1853, and a mail route opened to Newton. The office was once 
kept bv John M. Greycen, in the present dwelling of William 
Chandler. The postmasters have been Henry Perry, J. M. 
Grevcen, John George, Reuben Stidworthy and P. Dolan. 

John George was born in Cornwall, England, in 1824; came 
to the United States 1840; spent two years (1851-53) in the 
city of New York ; came to Ogdensl)urgh in 1853, as superinten- 
dent ; remained superintendent until 1880 ; since that date has 
been mining expert with an office in New York. He is am an of 
great executive capacity, and has always been a liberal friend 
of the church and its ministers. 

The first physician of Ogdensburgh was Dr. Rogers. He 
was followed in 1874 by Dr. Condit, and he by Dr. Emerson 
Potter. Dr. William Henry Douglas, the physician there at 
the present time, was born in the City of New York, May 15th, 
1856 ; graduated from the Bellevue Hospital Medical College 
March 1st, 1878; resided in New York until 1882. He is 
highly appreciated for his sympathetic and kindly disposition, 
as well as for his unusual sldil in liis j)rofession. 

Religious Services. — Religious services have been held at 
Ogdensbui-gh ever since the time of Noah Crane. Robert 
Ogden in his diary speaks of paying Daniel Lanterman $1 for 
the Sunday school at Ogdensburgh July 7, 1825. Preaching was 
at first every two or four weeks. But since the church was built 
in 1882 there has been ])reaching every Sabbath by both Presby- 
terians and Methodists. The land and $500 were given at that 



ogi)ensbi:kgii. 67 

time for a cliiircli In' John (xeorjje. Thisenco iru' el the people 
of the village to prosecute the work, and as a result a very com- 
plete and commodious building was erected (with $500 help 
from the Board of Church EreetioTi) and dedicated free of debt. 

The trustees of tlie church have been the following: John I). 
Lanterman, Sam. R. George, William Riddle. James Stidworthy, 
Abijah Ilolden and J. B. lIoj)paugh. Elder Wm. Kiddle was for 
many years superintendent of the Sabbath school. The present 
superintendent is Jolm Chandler, the principal of the Academy. 
Elder Riddle has also freely assumed the care of warming and 
lighting the church. Elder J. B. Hoj^paugh has given time 
and labor without stint to the onerous duties of the treasurer- 
ship. The music has had the advantage of being under tlie 
patient and skillful direction of Mrs. Inez George. The ladies 
of tlie place deserve great praise for their persistent and suc- 
cessful effort to complete the furnishing of the church. This 
church is now and always has been at the service of people of 
all denominations for funerals and all proper religious services. 

At Ogdensburgh, instruction was given as early as ISOfi in a 
li'tle log cabin that stood on the site of the present schoolhouse. 
The laud had been given by Roberr Ogden. The first teaciier 
was Ephraim Woodruff, a revolutionary hero. He lived in a 
log cabin beside the schoolhouse. In 1834, a fraaied buildino- 
was erected in which Elizabeth Youngs, Rebecca Decker and 
others taught. The third house was built in 3 856, and the 
fourth, the present one, in 18T2. This latter is a brick building 
of two stories and cost $7500. There are three de])artments in 
this school, taught at present by John Chandler, Mrs. M. L. Lj'-on 
and Ella Current. Other of the later teachers have been J. P, 
Dolan, B. D. Potter, Elsie Hill and Martha L. Maxwell. Mr! 
Chandler was born at Bethlehem, Hunterdon County, N. J.* 
was educated at Belvidere and at Easton in Lafayette ' Colleo-e, 
was in the army three years in the 2d Xew Jersey Cavab-v ; in 
business at Frenchtown two years, and has been teaching since 
that time. 

The business men of Ogdensburgh have been the following: 
Hotel proprietors : John D. Lanterman, Adams, David F. Lyon, 
Jacob Wise and Ed. George in the George's Hotel ; and Jacob 
Struble, Michael Mackerly, Jos. Brooks, John Brjant, John R. 
Booth and Walter Ousted, in the Ousted House. Mr. Ousted 
came to Ogdensburgh from Newton. Mr. Edward George 
was born in Ogdensburgh, and was Superintendent of Mining 
before entering into the hotel business. 

- Dolan's store was first kept by David ]\[cCarty. It was once 
a schoolhouse. Patrick J. Dolan, the present proprietor, was 



68 OGDEN8BlH(;H. 

born at Franklin, N. J., went to scliool there, and by close at- 
tention to study ol)tained a good education, tauglit ^chool, and 
at one time was principal of the Academy at Ogdensburgh. 
He taught from 1882-83; formed a copartnership with David 
MeCarry, June. 1879; sold out to his partner in June, 1882; 
bouglit hiin out in January, 1883, and has been keeping the 
same store since that time. He is also the present postmaster. 
Madden's store was built and first kept by John D. Lanter- 
man and Ben. Kays, then by John, William and Peter Lanter- 
man ; it was then sold to Tliomas O'Maley and afterward to 
Patrick Madden, who is the present proprietor. 

Mr. IMiidden was born in Ireland ; his father and family came 
to America when he was very young, and settled in Andover, 
Sussex County. His opportunities for acquiring an education 
were very limited. He went to California, and remained tliere 
eight and a half years. He si3ent his evenings while there in 
studying with a friend who had been a school teacher, and thus 
made up for the want of ^arly advantages. He has been in 
business in O. since 1873. 

Mr. James Thorpe, one of the oldest residents of the place, 
keeps a confectionery store. 

James Stidworthy, the blacksmith, learned his trade with 
R. K, Smith, of Sparta, and built and opened a shop in Ogdens- 
burgh in 1875. He is the son of Thonuis Stidworthy, and came 
to this country, when a babe, with his father from Plymouth, 
England. His brother Reuben, the former postmaster, is 
entrafied in storekeepinor in Oi^densburMi. 

Mr. Stnats Lawrence, sou of Hon. Thomas Lawrence, was 
born at Hamburg, N. J., and came to Ogdensburgh in March, 
1875. He is a large dealer in lumber, coal, brick, lime, 
cement, &c. 

Samuel George, at present superintendent of iron mines at 
Roseville, is a son of John George, and was formerly superin- 
tendent of mines in North Carolina. 



YI.— OGDEN GKXEALOGY. 

BY REV. A. A. HAINES. 

I. John Ogden, one of the two patentees who settled 
Elizabetlitown ; born in Northampton, England ; resided in 
Stamford, Conn., 1641, a year after its settlement ; married 
Jane Bond abont 1640 ; in 1644 settled Hempstead, L. I., by 
grant from Governor Keift, November 16, 1644 ; made a new 
settlement at North Sea, L. I., in 1647 ; made a freeman of 
Southampton, 1650 ; held office as magistrate from Connecticut 
and New Haven. Jn 1664 he came to Elizabetlitown with his 
five grown boys, John, Jr., Jonathan^ David, Joseph and 
Benjamin. A man much honored, of sterling piety, and 
frequently called " Good old John Ogden." Died December, 
1681. 

II. Jonathan Ogden came with his father to Elizabetlitown, 
1664 ; born 1646, died 1732 ; elder in the church ; signed 
articles of Elizabetlitown Associates in the purchase of that 
tract from the Staten Island Indians, 1664, when eighteen 
years old. Tombstone in First Presbyterian churchyard ; his 
wife was named Rebecca ; had five children, Jonathan, Samuel, 
Robert^ Hannah and Rebecca. 

III. Robert Ogden, Ist, was tlie youngest son of Jonathan 
and Rebecca; born 1687; married Ilannali Crane, of Newark. 
Their children were Hannah, Rohert (2d), Phebe, Moses, 
Elihu and David. His second wife was Phebe Roberts, widow 
of Jonathan Baldwin. Their children were Mary, Rebecca 
and Sarah. He was an elder in the church, and died Novem- 
ber 20, 1733, at the age of forty-six. 

IV. Robert Ogden, 2d, was the eldest son of R<»bert and 
Ilannali Crane ; was called Honorable and Judge; held numy 
offices under the royal government ; born October 7, 1716 ; 
died at Sparta. January 21, 1787 ; married Phebe Ilatiield, and 
had twent3'-two children ; removed from Elizabetlitown, 1776, 
to Sussex County ; called their house and farm Sparta. 
Speaker of the New Jersey Legislature, Deceml>er, 1759 ; 
member of the Continental Congress in New York, October, 
1765 ; elder and mend)er of the Synod of New York and 
Philadelphia, 1763 and 1766 ; chairman of the Committee of 
Safety, Elizabetlitown, 1776. Phebe JIatfieUl, his wife, was 



70 OGDEN GENEALOGY. 

born Xoveinber 25, 1720; died and buried beside her husband 
in Sparta churchyard December 22, 1790. Their children 
were Phebe Oi^de'n, wife of Cob Tlionias Moseley, M.D., of 
East Ilachhnn, (V)nn. ; Anna Oaden, born September 28, 1740, 
wife of Col. Oliver Spencer; Ilhoda Ogden, born September 
28, 1742 ; married Timothy Edwards, son of Jonathan Edwards, 
and at tlic time of her death had 102 descendants ; lioJjeH 
Ogden, 3d ; Jonathan Ogden, born January 1"5, 1748, died in 
infancy ; Jonathan Ogden, 2d, born September 2, 1750, 
drowned in Eli/.abethtown Creek, June 10, 1760 ; Mary Ogden, 
borii Septendjcr IS, 1752, married Cob Francis Barber, and 
died shortly afterward without children ; ]\ratthias Ogden, 
General, born October 22, 1754, and married Hannah, daughter 
of Gen. Elias Dayton ; Aaron Ogden, LL.D., a colonel in the 
Revolutionary army. Governor of New Jersey and United 
States Senator, President of the Society of the Cincinnati, was 
born December 3, 1756, and died at Jersey City, 1839 ; Oliver 
Ogden, born January 16, 1760 ; Hannah Ogden, born March 
27, 17(>1, and died at Sparta, 1789. unmarried ; Elias Ogden, 
born Xovcnd)er 9. 1763, married ]\rarv Anderson. Their 
children were William A. Ogden, Matthias llattield Ogden, of 
Ilandjurg ; Phebe Ogden, Henry Warren Ogden, Captain 
United States Navy and a distinguished otWcer ; Elias Ogden 
and Rev. Thomas Anderson Ogden, ordained in Handjurg 
Church. 

V. Robp:rt Ogden, 3d, Avas the son of Robert, 2d, and Phebe 
Hatfield ; born at Eli/.abethtown, March 23, 1746, and died 
Fel)ruary 14, 1826, at the house of his grandson, Daniel Haines, 
in Hamburg; removed to Sussex; President Sussex County 
Pible Society 1825 ; elder, and often member of Presbytery 
and Synod [member of General Assembly 1806 and 1807] ; 
married ^Sfay 19, 1772, to his first Avife, Sarah Piatt, who Avas 
born at Huntington, L. I., Septendjer 27, 1750. Their children 
are Elizabeth Piatt Ogden, born August 10, 1773,. wife of Col. 
Josei)h Jackson, of liockaway ; Robert Ogden, 4th, born 
September 15, 1775 ; Mary Ogden, born July 3, 1778, married 
Elias Haines, merchant of New York, and died 1852 ; 
Jeremiah Piatt Ogden, born October 22, 1779, and drowned in 
Elizal)ethtown Creek when a child ; Sarah Piatt Ogden, born 
January 21, 1781, married Cornelius Dubois, iMcrchant of New 
York. Mrs. Ogden died two hours after the birth of this 
child. Mr. Ogden was absent, trying a case before the court 
when a messenger came with the announcement, and he fainted 
on the spot. Ilannah Piatt Ogden was the second wife of 
Robert Ogden, 3d ; they were married at Huntington, L. I. 



OGDEN GENEALOGY. 71 

Their children were Rebecca "Wood Piatt Oo;den, born March 
23, 1787, and married Sam. Fowler, M.D., of Franklin Furnace ; 
Hannah Amelia Jarvis Ogden, born August 10, 1790, and 
married Thomas C. Rverson, Judge of Supreme Court ; Phebe 
Henrietta Maria, born February 9, 1793, the t^econd wife of Judge 
Rverson, died March, 1852 ; Zophar Piatt Ogden, born 
December 7, 1795, married Rebecca AVood, of Mississippi ; 
AVilliam Henry Augustus Ogden, born December 14, 1797, 
died in Louisia?ia, 1822 ; John Adams Ogden, born September, 
1799, died February 9, 1800. 

SYNOPSIS. 

1. John Ogden, of Northampton, England, died Decem- 
ber, 1681, in years. 2. Jonathan Ogden, born 1646, died 
1732, aged 86. 3. Robert Ogden, 1st, born 1687, died Novem- 
ber 20, 1733, aged 46. 4. Robert Ogden, 2d, born October 
7, 1716, died January 21, 1787, aged 71. 5. Robert Ogden, 
3d, born March 23, 1746, died February 14, 1826, aged 80. 

The following letter is important as showing the time of 
Rob. Ogden's coming to Sussex County, and also his connection 
witli the Continental army : 

" MORRISTOWN, January 6, 1777. 

" Honorable Sir : I send j^ou Mr. Lowrey's letter, who, since 
it was written, has desired me to inform you that the way he 
does, and the method you must take, is to apply to General 
Washington, who will give a warrant for any sum of money 
you may apply for necessary for carrying on your commissary's 
department. I am informed there is complaint here for want 
of Hour, and think it best you should attend here yourself as 
soon as possible — where you will receive help from, the mili- 
tary by General Washington's order, to take wheat or any other 
necessary for the army from such persons as have it to spare 
without distressing their families. General AVashington will 
be here by noon. Forty AYaldeckers were brought in yester- 
day by the militia. The killed, wounded and pri.-^oners of the 
enemy at Princeton were about 600 ; our loss of men was about 
ten or twelve, and of officers six or eight, among which was 
General Mercer. From yours dutifully, 

M. Ogden." 

" For Robert Ogden, Esq., Sussex." 



VIL— HISTORY OF NORTH HARDYSTON CHURCH. 

This clnirch consists of two congregations at the North 
Church and at Hamburg, under one session and one pastor. 
The following account is compiled from an historical sermon 
of the Rev. A. A. Haines, preaciied August 30, 1882, and also 
from another, ])reached in July, 1879 : 

Land had been given at the Head of tlie "Wallkill near tlie 
present village of Sparta, for cliureli purposes, but tlie people 
of North Hardyston objected to going so far to meeting, and 
petitioned for land to be given them witiiin a reasonable dis- 
tance. The petition was favorably considered, and a new 
Sarsonage lot of fifty-four acres was set off to the people of 
forth Hardyston. This land is situated over two miles from 
the North Church, and constitutes a part of the land of Asa Mun- 
8011, and is called " parsonage lot " in his father's deeds. This 
donation fixed the name of the new church, our corporate name 
being still the Presbyterian Church of North Hardyston. Tliis 
grant was made about 1774 [1787], and was no doubt very 
influential in the founding of tlie society. The house of wor- 
ship was not erected on the lands donated. Col. Isaac Gary, 
who lived here, and who had much influonce, insisted that it 
should 1)0 built on a hill near his house that had been used as 
a l)urying ground. He carried his point, and the ''Cary 
Meetin-jr House" was built on the hill above the site of the 
present cliurch. The North Church of Hardyston, so called to 
distinguish it from the Hardyston at Sparta, was rebuilt in 
1815 on its present site. This latter building was burned 
down in 1830 by a negro incendiary, instigated l)y a man ini- 

Jrisoned for debt in Newton jail. A subscription list dated 
une 19, 1813, read : '' We, the subscribers, being sensible of 
the decayed situation of the old meeting-house near the Widow 
Beardslee, and of the necessity and great utility of liaving a 
decent and comfortable house erected at or near the place 
where the old one stands for public worship, do engage to pay 
the several sums annexed to our respective names into the 
trustees of tlie First Pres^byterian Church, of Hardyston, or to 
tlieir order, one-fourth part on demand, one-fourth part in six 
months after the said building is commenced, and the residue 
in six months after the second payment becomes due. When 
a sufficient sum is subscribed, managers shall be chosen to 



J 



IIIS'l'OKV OF NORTH HAKDYSTON CHURCH. 73 

contract and superiiituiid the work, and that Martin Rjerson, 
It^rael Munson, George Bnckley, Noah Hammond, Peter 
Whitaker and J. Sutton, be a committee to circulate sub- 
scriptions to raise funds for the purpose aforesaid." John 
Linn subscribed $150; Samuel Fowler, $150; George 
Beardslee, $150; James Scott, $100; Chas. Beardsley, $100, 
and others very liberal sums amounting to $113o. 

When the second building was l)urne(l d(_>\vn in 1S30, it was re- 
i)uilt and dedicated, May 6, 1831, fourteen months after the first 
one had been burned. This M^as due largely to the untiring efforts 
of the pastor, Rev. Dr. Elias Fairchild. The first Presbyterian 
Church of Hamburg was organized on May 14, 1819, and was dis- 
solved by the members l)eing received into the North Presbyter- 
ian Church of Plardiston. May 24-, 1822. The meeting-house at 
Hamburg — now occupied exclusively by the Paptisrs — was 
built about 1814, the deed for the land being given l)y Martin 
Ryerson, Januar}^ 20, 1814, " to the trustees of the United Pres- 
byterian and Baptist Societies." In September, 1869, the line 
stone building in Hamburg was begun, and in May, 1882, it 
was dedicated. Up to May 15, 1819, North Hardiston was united 
with the Hardyston Church, at Sparta, but at that date it began a 
separate existence with a membership of sixty-one. At the same 
time the Hamburg Church was set oft" from Sparta. Up to this 
time the same ministers preached in two and sometimes in all 
tliree of these churches. Xewton Church was also in the same 
circuit up to 1815. 

The ministers of North Hardiston and Hamburg were Ed- 
ward Allen. 1819; Burr Baldwin, 1821; Nathan Conklin, 
1824; Dr. Elias Fairchild, 1829; Joel (Campbell, 1838; David 
B. Meeker, 1857; Goodloe B. Bell, 1-59; Alanson A. Haines, 
1865. 

The Sabbath school was organized in 1818, and revivals of 
religion have been unusually frequent. Its session has included 
such eminent men as the Hon. John Linn, a member of Con- 
gress, and ex-Governor Haines, the father of the present pas- 
tor, and a man of eminent piety. Judge Haines, in numy 
respects the most prominent citizen of this county, M^as equally 
prominent and intiuential in church and State. He was born 
in the city of New York, 1801. His father, Elias Haines, was 
a wealthy merchant of that city. His ancestors were among 
the first settlers of Elizabethtown. where his grandfather, 
Stephen Haines, resided, and M'ith his sons took an active part 
in the Revolution, Judge Haines graduated from the Col- 
lege of New Jersey, 1820, and was admitted to the bar in 
1823. He took an active part in politics, was a member of the 



74 iii8T()i:y of nokiii mahdyssion ciirKcii. 

Council, (Tovernor twice — in 1848 and 1847 — and made an excel- 
lent reputation for impartiality and integrity Jis Justice of the Su- 
preme Court for fourteen years from November, 1852. He was 
active in the General Assembly, Bible Society and Sabbath 
school. lie was a member of the International Congress for 
prison reform, which met at London in 1872. Jle died, greatly 
resj^ected, at Hamburg, January 20, 1877. The mendjership of 
this church was sixty-one when it was organized. May, 1819 — 
fifty-one by certificate and ten by profession ; in 1819, twenty- 
four were added ; in 1827, twenty-six ; in 1831, sixty ; in 1832, 
seventy; in 1834, twenty-six; in 1842, thirty-six; in 1850, 
twenty-four; in 1858, sixteen; in 1871, forty-four ; in 1885, 
forty-two; in 188<j, fifteen. 

The elders of North Hardyston have been the following: 
John Linn, died 1821; George Buckley, died 1831; Johnson 
Gould ; Thomas B>eardslee, ordained 1821, died 1831 ; James 
Congleton, ordained 1821, died 1871 ; ^amuel Tuttle, ordained 
1823, died 1861; Daniel Edwards, ordained 1824; Jacob 
Kind)Ie, oi-dainod 1827, died 1863 ; Andrew Linn, ordained 
1827-1848; Daniel Haines, ordained 1837, died 1877; Elias 
L. Hommedieu, ordained 1837-1845 ; Simon W. Buckley, or- 
dained 1848 ; Joshua Predraore, ordained 1848 ; Samuel O. 
Price, ordained 1866; Levi Congleton, ordained 1866; John 
L. Brown ordained 1868 ; John E. Congleton, ordained 1876, 
died 1879; William E. Skinner, ordained 1876; Worthington 
H. Ligersoll, ordained 1878. 

The present pastor has served this church for nearly twenty- 
two years. Alanson Austin Haines was born at Hamburg, 
N. J., March 18, 1830; studied at the College of New Jersey, 
but his health failed before graduation ; engaged from 1850 to 
1855 in civil engineering, mostly on New Jersey railroads; 
graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary, 1858 ; licensed 
by the Presl)ytery Roekaway, April, 1857 ; oi'dained and installed 
pastor of the Buckinuham Church, P)erlin, Md., September 22, 
1858; resigned October, 1860; stated supply at Amagansett, 
Long Lsland, from November, 1860, to August, 1862 ; Chaplain 
of Fifteenth Kegiment, New Jersey Volunteers, from August, 
1862, to the close of the war, June, 1865; stated supply IS ortli 
Hardyston, Hand)urg, N. J., July, 1865, to the present time 
(January, 18S7); received leave of absence from his charge for 
nine months in 1873; sent by American Palestine Exploration 
Society as engineer of the expedition to the land of Moab ; 
made surveys and map of territory, extending twenty miles 
north and south and thirty miles east and west, to the east- 
ward of the Jordan and the Dead Sea ; made a complete survey 



HISTORY OF NORTH HARDYSTON CHURCH. 75 

of Mt. Nebo and adjoining hights. The results were puh- 
lislied in part by the English Palestine Ex])lorati()n Fund. 
Had a second leave of absence for five and a half months in 
1876. In company with Rev. Laurens Y. Shuler made explora- 
tions in the Siuaitic Peninsular, Mt. Seir, Idumea and Southern 
Palestine ; ascended and determined in the two expeditions 
the hights of most of the sacred moinitains and mapped the 
regions passed through. 

Three ministers have gone out from this church — viz., 
I. Ford Sutton, D. D., who united with the church in 1843 at 
fifteen years of age, and who is now the pastor of the Murray 
Hill Presbyterian Church, of New York City ; Samuel Payne, 
who joined the church in 1825, and was ordained in 1832, and 
Alanson A. Haines, who united with the church, January, 1843, 
at twelve years of age. 



VIII.— OTHER RELIGIOUS BODIES. 

TiiK ]\Ii:tii()I)Ist CirrHcii. 

BY MOSES DELANY. 

Al)Out tlie year 1820, Rev. Geo. I>anf2:liart came to this, then 
called IIauil>uro;, circuit. He had a reguLar preaching place at 
Major John Boss's father's lionse. He is said to have preached 
the tirst Methodist sermon in S])arta, in the old tavern called 
" Grainiy Stewarts.^' liev. Mr. Baiighart was in many respects a 
remarkable man. He was intensely earnest, and had a voice 
of wonderful sweetness and power. He was a very tine singer, 
and many striking incidents are related of the marvelous influ- 
ence he had over an audience in sacred song. The writer 
heard him preach many years ago, and remembers distinctly 
the peculiar effect his preaching produced on him. He was 
moved to tears by the sweet and tender manner in which he 
spoke the endearing word Heaven. He died al)out seventeen 
years ago in Warren County, X. J. — his native place, I believe 
— at the ripe age of eighty-eight, having preached the Gospel 
for sixty years. After him came Bromweil Andrew ; Isaac 
Winner, who was also a noted pulpit orator ; James H. Dandy, 
who lived to a ripe old age, having preached for fifty-six years ; 
John Potts, Jacob Hevener, C. A. Lip])incott and many others, 
whose names will be mentioned hereafter. C. A. Lippincott 
was a powerful preacher, and very eccentric ; a man of won- 
derful and strange experiences. When at camp-meetings he 
was at home. There his voice rang out in trumpet tones, call- 
ing sinners to Christ — the only Saviour of lost men. For some 
years at first tlie itinerant preacher could be heard only in 
private houses, barns, schoolhouses, and often in God's first 
temples — the groves. The first Methodists were generally 
poor, and had to make great sacrifices for God and the church. 
From a small and feeble beginning the Methodist church has 
arisen to a resj^ectable position among her sister churches. 

About one-third of the j\[ethodist preachers who have labored 
in this region have left the church militant and joined the church 
triumphant. Of those wlio survive, some have grown old in the 
service of the Master and still linger with us ; John Scarlet, the 
converted infidel, who has given so many powerful blows to infi- 
delity, whose faith has never wavered since he broke the chain l)y 



OTHER RELIGIOUS BODIES. 7T 

whicli he was so long bound, still survives at the ripe age of four 
score and five years, his eye still bright and his natural force una- 
bated. Most of the Methodist ministers who have preached in 
Sparta since a Methodist church was organized here are still 
living and doing effective work. They are strong men of God 
and able ministers of the ISTew Testament. In 1832, James 
Ayers preached in Sparta, In 1835 and 183<! Sedgewick 
Rusling M^as the preacher in charge, and C. S. Van Cleve, 
junior preacher. Preaching was at first held in the schoolhouse, 
after that in the old storehouse down by the lower bridge. On 
August 15, 1836, Methodism took an organic form under the 
su]>ervision of Kev. Sedgewick Kusling. At the above date a 
meeting was held in Lewis Sherman's store, at which time five 
trustees were elected, who were the following : Isaac Goble, 
Geo. B. Beatty, Ziba Nichols, Joseph Boss and Lewis Dewitt. 
On the ITtli of the same month these trustees met and 
assumed the name of the First M. E. Church, of Hardyston. 
On the 14th of June, 1837, a storehouse and lot were bought 
of Isaac Coursen for $750. The house stood on the present 
site of J. A. Potter's store. This was used as a place of wor- 
ship until it was sold in June, 1839. The congregation then 
worshipped in the houses of Ichabod McConnell and Stephen 
Lyon alternately. In the spring of 1841 the contract for 
building a church was let to Joseph Crane for $1405, to be 
paid in installments as the work progressed. 

The church was completed in April, 1842, and stood opposite 
the upper blacksmith shop. The trustees of the church at that 
time, as near as I can learn by the old records, were John 
Bonker, Jacob B. Leport, James Ross, Dan. J. Hurd, Zenas 
Hurd, Jacob Y. Coursen and Ilerrick R. Halsey. The build- 
ing committee w'erc Jacob Coursen, Joseph Crane, Ilerrick R. 
Halsey, John Houston and Mahlon II. Hurd, and the ])reacher 
in charge was Rev. Edward Saunders. The corner-stone Avas 
laid on the 22d of September, 1841, by the Rev. Manning 
Force, and the church was completed in April, 1842. The 
sermon at its dedication was preached by Rev. David W. 
Bartine, D. D., who was a prince in Israel. In March, 1856, a 
parsonage was bought of Stephen Rochelle for $975, which 
was the house now occupied by Peter Cooper. The grounds 
on which are located the present church, parsonage and ceme- 
try were purchased of John and Charles Darling, April 1, 
1864. The old parsonage was sold in 1865 for $812.50, and a 
new parsonage was built the same year for $1638.85. The 
present church edifice was built in 1868 for $6455.16. The 
trustees at that time were the following : J. W. Puder, Capt. 



78 OTIIKU KKLKilOlTS IJODIKS. 

Isaac Goble, D. IT. Laiitz, S. M. Fisher, O. P. Case, Thomas 
McDavit and Mathias Goble. The building coniniittee were 
Rev. C. E. Walton (the preacher in charge), .John L. White, 
Thomas McDavit, D. U. Lantz and Smith M. Fisher. 

The corner-stone was laid September 17, 1808, by Rev. C. S. 
Coit. The church w<»6 dedicated May 4, J 809. The distin- 
guished ministers who ofhciated on that occasion were Rev, R. 
L. Dashiell. D. I)., and Rev. R. R. Meredith. The old church 
was sold to William Earl, March 3, 1809, for ,^485, Mr, Earl 
removed it to its present location, where the lower part is now 
nsed as a store by John /A. Potter, and the upper part as a 
Town Hall. In 1872 the cemetery was laid out and graded. 
At that time the debt on the clinrch property was $38S2.03. 
Then it gradually diminished until the year 1882, when it was 
$284(». During that 3'ear, under the supervision of the pastor. 
Rev. A. M, Harris, a determined effort was made to free the 
church from debt. Under God's blessing, the effort was en- 
tire! v successful. In the summer of 188<> the church was thor- 
ougldy overhauled, repaired and beautified at a cost of about 
$500. The parsonage was also considerably improved. The 
committ' e on repairs were Rev, M. S. Landjert, John A, Pot- 
ter and AV. C. Timbrell, The present officers of the church 
are the following: Trmtees : M. Delany, H. B. Strait, W. C, 
Timbrell, P. H. Cooper, W. H. Martin and AVilson Kinney. 
Stewards : H. B. Strait, M. Delany, P. II. Cooper, Mrs. G. B, 
Fisher, Mrs. Geo. Struble and Miss M, A. Lyon, Superin- 
tendent of Sunday school : A\^ C. Timbrell. Class Leaders: 
M. Delany and W. C. Timbrell. Licensed Kxhorter : M. 
Delany. 

The church when organized consisted of fifty members; in 
1886 of 120 niend)ers and twenty probationers. In 1849, 
Sparta ceased to form part of a circuit. The Methodist church 
in Sparta has sent out only a few men to preach the Gospel, but 
many grand and noble men and women have lived and died in 
her communion. Space will not permit me to mention the 
host who have been converted by her instrumentality. I will 
only speak of a few revered and honored names. There were 
Ziba Nichols, familiarly called " Uncle Ziba," and John 
Bonker, who was sometimes called "Daddy" Bonker, These 
two men were moral heroes, and were fired with an undying 
faith and zeal. They were licensed exhorters, and their ex- 
hortations and songs of praise were heard frequently in nearly 
every schoolhouse in this and the adjoining townshops. Their 
names are "like ointment poured forth," I will also speak of 
Mrs. Stephen Lyon, who has been identified with Methodism 



OTHER RELIGIOUS HODIKS. 79 

from its l)e<riiniini>' in Sparta. She is still witli us at the ripe 
age of eighty-two. Her mental faculties are still ii;ood, and her 
faith and hope in God strono^ and innvavering. Another hon- 
ored name I sliould speak of is S. M. Fisher, who was identi- 
fied with the Methodist Episcopal church in this place for more 
than thirty years. He was honored with neai-ly every office in 
tlie church. He was a good and very nsefnl man. He passed 
suddenly to his heavenly home about three years ago, aged 
sixty-four. I might mention many more who labored, toiled 
and suffered here for Christ and His cause. But their record is 
on high. They rest in peace. The ministers who have served 
the Methodist Episcopal church as pastors since its organiza- 
tion in 1838 to the present time are the following: 1836, 
Sedgewick Rusling; 1838, Ed ward Saunders; 1840, W. C. kel- 
son ; 1843, John Scarlet; 1845, S. D. Decker; 1847, H. B. 
Beagle; 1850, F. S. Wolf; 1852, T. S. Detrick ; 1854, J. L. 
Hays ; 1855, O. B. Carmichael ; 1857, A. H. Bellis ; 1859, W. 
G. Wiffgins; 1861, J. B. Matins; 1863, E. Thomas; 1865, W. 
E. Blakeslee; 1867, AV. H. Dickerson ; 1868, C. E.Walton; 
1871, AV. B. AViijg; 1873, J. E. Hancock ; 1875, C. M. AYam- 
baugh ; 1877, E": Meachem ; 1879, A. L. AAHlson ; 1882, A. M. 
Harris ; 1884, AYm. Stout, and 1886, AI. S. Lambert, who is 
the present pastor. There have been revivals under nearly all 
the pastorates of the foregoing preachers. Some were very 
marked and glorious ones. To God be all the glory. 

Baptist Chfrch. 

The Kev. Theodore Fuller, of Deckertown, began preaching 
at Ogdensburgh as a Methodist September, 1876. Three years 
after (1879) he became a Baptist, and was baptised with twenty- 
three of his people at Grenelle Lake, and thirteen more were 
afterward baptised at Newton. Air. Fuller ceased preaching 
at Ogdensburgh June 1, 1886. The following were members 
of his church : Anthony Pierce, Alatilda Dorven, Xellie Mor- 

fan, Mrs. John Sweeney, Barbara Batson, James Fredericks, 
Trs. Nathaniel Pierson and Elder Dennis. 

lioMAX (Jatholio CnURCH. 

" The corner-stone of the Church of St. Thomas of Acquin, 
Ogdensburgh, was laid Alay 4, 1881, .by the Most Rev. AI. A. 
Corrigan, D. D., assisted l)y Ilevs. R. B. AIcDonald, S. J., 
G. A. Corrigan and A. AL Kaminer. On November 5 of the 
same year the church was dedicated and opened for divine 
service by the Rt.-Rev. W. M. AVigger, D. D., Bishop of New- 



8<> OTHER KELIGIOUS BODIES. 

ark. The church was built by tlie Rev. A. M. Kammer, who- 
remained its rector until removed to Jersey City, June 16^ 
1884. The second and present rector is lie v. J. II. Hill, resid- 
ing at Franklin Furnace. The land, building and furnishing 
of the church cost §4500. The present membershij) of the 
church is about twenty -eight families, or one hundred and thirty 
souls. Prominent among its members are P. Madden, P. J. 
Dolan, merchants; J. F. Dolan, plumber and tinsmith; T. 
Marshall, superintendent of Passaic; Zinc Mine. Prior to IS'o- 
vember, 1881, all the Catholics of S]>arta Township worshipped 
in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Franklin Fur- 
nace." {^Letter of Rev. J. 11. JIUl.] 

The Cokey Universalist Society. 

The first meeting of this society to elect trnstees for the pur- 
pose of becoming incorporated was held June 20, 1871. Kev. 
Eben Francis was appointed chairman and Geo. B. Beatty 
clerk. The articles of belief are as follows : 

" Article 1. We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old 
and New Testament contain a revelation of the character of 
God, and of the duty, interest and final destination of man- 
kind. 

" Article 2. AVe believe that there is one God, whose nature 
is love, revealed in one Lord Jesus Christ by one Holy Spiric 
of Grace, who will linally rest re the whole family of mankind 
to holiness and happiness. 

'■''Article 3. AV^e believe that holiness and true happiness are 
insepanil>ly connected, and that believers ought to be careful 
to maintain order and practice good works, for these things are 
good and profitable unto men." 

The following is a list of the trustees from the beginning : 
James B. Stanaback, Joseph McMickle, Robert Mabie, William 
Earl, Daniel Stilwell, Phillip Kinney, John Decker, Martin "W. 
Mabie, David F. Kinney, T. H. Andress, John McMickle and 
John Linn Allen. Incorporated July 8,1871; Admitted to 
the fellowship of the New Jersey Convention of Universalists^ 
February, 1872. 



IX.— PROPRIETARY TRANSFERS. 

The map, wliich is unavoidably curtailed, was drawn by 
James B. Titman, and the following description is compiled 
from data furnished ahnost altogether by liim : 

The map represents land given to the church by the pro- 
prietors. The record at Perth Amboy (Book S. 8, page 142, 
30th May, 1787) speaks of two tracts, one of which is now in- 
chided in Asa Munson's farm, and was given for the benefit of 
that part of the congregation living in North Hardyston. We 
give a copy of the minutes in full : 

" Surveyed for tlie trustees of the First Presbyterian Church 
in Hardyston. All that tract of land on the east side of the 
Wallkill in the township of Hardyston, &c. Beginning at a 
heap of stones lying on a steep bank by the side of Harlow 
Brook, and is the beginning corner of 105 acres surveyed for 
Lord Sterling, 20th September, 1766, and recorded S. 5, page 
320, thence : 1. K 1° 06' W. 16.70 ; 2. N. 51° 14' E. 20 ; 
3. N. 25° 14' E. 12.40 ; 4. S. 15° 33' E. 16.95 ; 5. S. 31° 27' 
W. 36 ; 6. N. 41° 45' W. 9.25 to the place of beginning, con- 
taining 54 acres strict measure. 

" Also all that tract of land, including Sparta Church, 
situated on both sides of the Wallkill, in the township of 
Hardyston, &c. Beginning on a course S. 1° 30' W. 7 chains 
from the second corner of Sharp's 160 acre tract, known by tJie 
name of the Welsh House tract, thence : 1. S 1° 30' W. 
34.20 ; 2. N. 74" W. 13.80 ; 3. K 43° 36' W. 20 ; 4. N. 
60° 15' E. 32.10 to the place of beginning, containing 54 acres 
strict measure." 

" The above arc true extracts from the records in the Sur- 
veyor General's office, of East New Jersey at Perth Amboy. 

" F. W. Brinley, 

" pro SuKV. Gen." 

The lower or northern extremity of this land is near Titman's 
Lane, and the upper or southern side passes just above the 
Earl House. The northwest boundary passes along behind the 
graveyard, and the eastern boundary runs along the side of the 
hill across the brook east of the village. The lots on the Avest 
of the road are divided and numbered correctly, l)ut it has been 
found almost impossible to locate with certainty those on the 

(6) 



82 PROPRIETARY TRANSFKKS. 

east of the road. Lot 24 was sold by Elizabeth Stewart to her 
son-in-law, John Lennini>;ton, and is still ])art of the Lennington 
property. 

This is the only certain location of the lots east of the road. 
But we are safe in inferring that the parsonage occupies lot 23 
and so on up to the residence of William Earl, which stands on 
the dividing line between the church lands and the Brogden 
tract. Lots 10-1 S (inclusive) are occupied by the buildings of 
Messsrs. Shuman, Bradbury, Potter and Boss. D is the old 
store that used to stand next to the church green; A is the 
church with the graveyard west and the gi-een on the east ; E 
is the tirst log schoolliouse ; C is the small lot sold by Cham- 
berlain and French to DeCamp in 1801 ; B is the irregularly 
shaped lot sold by Sheriff Darrali, Nov, 2, 1819, to satisfy a 
judgment of Rev. Jos. L. Shafer, then preaching at Newton, 
for the amount of S114.T8 ; he had claimed an indebtedness of 
$250. The southern line of the lot ran through the storehouse. 
Lot No. 15 was sold October 10, 1790, to Elias Ogden for 
|;62.75, and by him to Thomas Hill, May, 1791 ; by Thomas 
Hill to Samuel Chamberlain and Henry French, April 8, 1801 ; 
Henry French sells his share to Elizabeth Stewart the same 
year. Thomas Hill excepts from this sale a lot previously sold 
to DeCamp of 50 x 100 feet in size. Lots No. 16 and 17 were 
sold to Martin Connct, and lot 18 to William Corwin ; lots 2, 
3 and 4, containing three acres and fifty-six hundreths, were 
sold to Thomas Hill in July, 1791, for 14 pounds and fifteen 
shillings. These last lots were sold by Hill to W. R. Willis ; 
they were then sold at sheriff's sale, June 2, 1798, to Hannah 
W. Anderson, of New York City; H. W. Anderson sells the 
same to John Butler, March 25, 1803, for §600; the latter to 
Geo. Morrow in 1809. In December, 1797, a lot adjoining the 
above, of one acre and eight hundreths is sold by the trustees 
to W. R. Willis; and in March, 1798, another alongside the 
first — of ten acres and seventy-one hundreths — is also sold to 
the same by the same. James Morrow had bought lot No. 13 
previously to 1791 and was living on it at that time, as his resi- 
dence there is referred to in the deed given to Thos. Hill for 
2, 3 and 4 at that date. Diligent search has failed to discover 
the circumstances of the sale of the other lots. 

We find from releases given to Elizabeth Stewart, Martin 
Connet, Wm, Corwin and Hannah Anderson by Robt, Ogden, 
that the trustees had borrowed before 1790 a sum of money for 
some purpose (perhaps to remove a debt incurred in building 
the church) from the Commissioners of the Loan Office and 
had given a mortgage for the money, and this mortgage is 



^^^ 



.R 



4; 



AV- 













^*<^ 



^r 



>^ 



W 



'^•^o 



PROPEIETARY TEANSFEES. 83 

bought at public vendue by Robt. Ogdeii. Tlie upper part of 
the village south of the Earl House is included in the greater 
or Northerly Brogden tract of about eleven hundred acres, 
taken up very early by a West Jersey survey, though situated 
in East Jersey. This large tract included the Brogden meadows, 
taking in the four farms along the meadow road, including 
Hamilton Earl's. This tract, or a large part of it, was bought 
about sixty years ago in partnership by John Rutherford, 
James Ludhim and David Ryerson. 

Joseph Northrup bought of Jolm Rutlierford in July 30, 
180-i, three hundred acres of the Brogden tract for $1300 ; he 
sells two hundred and sixty-live acres of it in August, 1810, to 
Dan Hurd, and this included all the land south of the church 
lots on which the village stands. 

The lower village occupies the Welsh House tract taken up 
by the Sharps in ITGl, when IGO acres were returned to them. 
Reaching north a mile, and including the lands of James L. 
Decker, F. C. Easton and Job Cory, was another tract returned 
to the Sharps in 1751 of one hundred and seventy acres and 
thirty hundredths. In 1794 Jolm Rutherford took up seventy- 
nine acres and forty-nine hundredths on the IS". W., W. and 
S. W. of the church lands, including land now owned b}'' J. B. 
Titman, Charles Durling and the heirs of R. P. Washer. On 
the east of the village and bordering on the AYelsh House tract 
was the Morrow and Ogden tract, surveyed for Azariah Dun- 
ham and John Johnson in 1788, containing 1015 acres. Dun- 
ham and Johnson also took up some smaller tracts east of the 
road to Ogdensburgh in a sweep survey of 1500 acres, which 
was reduced by the deductions to 150 acres. The same parties 
also had returned to them in the same year, 1788, the " forge 
tract " of 999 acres. This included the upper forge, already 
built at that time, and the land l.ying north and east of it. This 
tract was afterward owned by Peter McKee, of New York, 
Cole and Decker, Ludlum and Northrup, Ludlum and Hurd, 
Judge Morris, and was last sold by J. B. Titman to the Pop- 
penhausens. The depot and race course are located on fifty- 
two and a half acres taken up by Jephtha Byram on October 
26, 1765. Walter Rutherford took u]) another tract near by 
of twenty-seven acres on April 15, 1768. The Ogdens owned 
originally nearly all the land as far as Hamburg. 

As early as 1730 the Stirling Hill tract, a mile long by lialf 
a mile wide, was returned to Anthony Rutgers. James Alex- 
ander subsequently came into possession of it, and from him 
his son, William Alexander or Lord Stirling, afterward in- 
herited it. 



84 PKOPKIETAKY TRANSFERS. 

The land on which the viHafje of O^denshnrgli stands was 
all owned by the Lantermans, who purchased it of Rob. Ogden. 
The most interesting land transfer is that of Itob. Ogden to 
Rev. Holloway W. Hunt, the first minister of this church. 
This was on August 20, 1705. The consideration was £200 
proclamation money (about 8500), for 30i acres. Elias Ogden 
sold to Mr. Hunt on May 23, 1T9T, another lot of 63^ acres for 
£83. These two lots of land are included in the farm that Job 
Cory now owns. Mr. Hunt lived on this farm while he 
preached in Xewton and Ilardyston (Sparta) for seven years 
until 1802. Rev. H. "VV. Hunt, Jr., was born in the house on 
this property in 1799. Mr. Hunt gave mortgages for this 
property to the full amount of the purchase money, and on May 
8, 1802, both mortgages were cancelled. This proves that the 
Ogdens did (as is alleged) promise Mr. Hunt the free use of a 
farm as long as he preached here, and the farm in fee simple 
if he staid seven years. In the trustees' book there is an entry 
dated April, 1802, which reads, " settled with Rev. H. W. 
Hunt for seven years' service. " Moreover, this same land 
whicli was sold to Mr. Hunt for about Sf^66 was sold bv liira 
to David Easton in 1803 for $1250. At the rate of 8200 a 
year for preaching half the time, this amount M-ith the use of 
the farm would pay My. Hunt's salary. 



X.— SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 

Jeptha Byram took up land in 1765, where tlie depot now 
stands. He probably owned a mill on the brock and gave it 
his name, Robert Ogden owned land and visited here before 
he came to settle in this vicinity in the fall of 1776. In 1780, 
Job Cory, a blacksmith, settled on the glen road, married Jane 
Morrow and was the father of David and grandfather of Job. 
About the same time Thomas Yan Kirk, a blacksmith, came to 
Sparta from Europe. He was the father of Peter, grandfather 
of Mills and great-grandfather of "VYirtie (Worden) Yan Kirk, 
who now lives in the old homestead. Thomas Yan Kirk was a 
large land owner, member of Council, 1816-1818 ; appointed 
County Judge, 1808 and 1813. He was the second president 
of our board of trustees and very prominent also in the early 
township history. Besides Mills Yan Kirk, the other children 
of Peter Yan Kirk are Mrs. John Kelsey, Mrs. M. L. Basley, 
Mrs. John Case. 

In 1795 Henry Decker came from Deckertown to Hardyston. 
His son James settled at Sparta, built a grist mill, and joined 
with Xelson Hunt and Lewis Sherman in introducing here the 
making of anchors. He died in 1862, and was the father of 
James L., John, and Mrs. J. L. Munson. After the Revolution 
Jonathan Sutton, of French descent, came to this section. He 
was an elder of this church. His great-grandchildren now live 
at Monroe Corner, and the Rev. J. F. Sutton, D. D., of New 
York, is one of his descendants. In 1785 AVilliam Ross, born 
in Scotland of the distinguished Crawford family, bought a 
farm of Judge Morris near S])arta. His son John carried on 
tlie wagon-makers' trade in this town, and was the father of ex- 
sheriif William E. Ross. Before 1800 Israel Munson was a 
farmer on the place now occupied by his son Asa. His children 
are Asa, Samuel (at Paterson), Susannah (in Illinois), Sering 
(in Michigan), John (in Wantage), Amos, of Deckertown, and 
James Ludlum Munson, of this vicinity, who has just (Janu- 
ai'v 4. 1887,) celebrated his golden wedding. Israel, Theodosia 
and Xancy have died. 

Some time before 1800 Noadiah Wade, a carpenter, kept 
tavern just north of Ogdensburgh. He was the father of 
Noadiah and Mrs. Unis Beardsley and grandfather of Morris 
Wade. He came from Massachusetts before the Revolution, 



86 SOME OF THE EARLY 8ETTLEKS. 

married, and left a family at home when he went to join the 
Continental army. At this time he was thirty years old. He 
first lived south of Sparta. His first wife was tJnis Gary and 
his second Amia Braisted. He helped build the church, and sang 
in the choir. He died about 183(i, aged eighty-four. The above 
children were by his second wife. Those of his first were 
Samuel, ]\[ury, IJetsey and ]\rartha. Simon Wade, a cousin of 
Noadiah, came to Ilardyston al)out 1780, and settled on the 
farm where his son Charles's widow now lives. Simon's chil- 
dren were Charles, Samuel T., Abby J., George W. and Lydia 
E. Wade. Early in the century John Lanterman bought four 
hundred acres of land of the Ogdens, including the present 
site of Ogdensbiirgh. He kept store opposite his dwelling in 
an old brick building still standing, lie was the first in this 
section to burn lime and brick. Two of his children were 
Moses and Daniel. Peter, William, Mrs. Predniore and Mrs. 
Goble are children of Moses, and John D. is the son of Daniel 
Lanterman. David and Garret Kemble came from Passaic 
County in 1808. In 1824 Garret Kemble purchased the home- 
stead where his descendants now live. He married Michael 
Hohrick's daughter, and is the father of Robert, lawyer 
Michael and English. 

Other early settlers in the vicinity of Ogdensburgh were 
Michael Rohrick and his son Caspar ; Andrew Jolmson, a car- 
penter; Noah Talmage, Ephraim Kemble, John Crawford, 
Benjamin Quick and William Johnson. Peter Norman, with 
his brother Oliver, was a tenant of the Ogdens, and the father of 
sixteen children, among ■whom were three sons, William, Peter 
and James. Morris Lake was formerly called Norman's Pond, 
from them. Jacob Timbrele occupied for fourteen years the John 
Decker place. His descendants are numerous, and represented 
in various branches of business and in the gospel ministry. He 
was the father of Hezekiah, who was the father of Jacob, 
whose sons are Hezekiah, John, W. Corson, Heman, Lewis and 
George. James Ludlum was a large Avholesale grocer in New 
York, of the firm of Ludlum & Johnson, wdien he was called 
into this section to settle up the estate of his brother, Gabriel 
Ludlum, who lived near Deckertown, on the farm now occu- 
pied by his descendant of the same name. Gabriel Ludlum 
died about 1801, and it was soon after that James came to 
Sussex. He kept house with his niece for a time at S]xirta. in 
the building which he erected o])posite the grist mill. He 
was a man of means, and afterM-ard lived at Lafayette, where 
he died on the place now owned by Dr. Allen. He married 
late in life Mrs. Beekman, at Kingston. A great deal of inter- 



SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLEKS. 8T ' 

esting historical material in reference to Mr. Lndlum is in the 
possession of Miss Martlia Lawrence, tlie acconiph'shed daughter 
of Senator Lawrence, of Hamburg. 

John Boss came to Hardyston in 1809. Ilis son, Major John, 
and daughter, Mrs. Amos Pierson, are still living at an advanced 
age. Major Boss was born in 1798. He enjoyed but slender 
opportunities for acquiring an education ; but his industry, in- 
tegrity and native talents soon brought him prominently before 
his fellow-citizens. He was chorister in the church for many 
years ; he has often been foreman of the grand jury, and has 
always been most highly respected by all classes of the com- 
munity as much for his Christian character as for his excellent 
business qualities. He has recently been given a tribute of 
respect so spontaneous and practical as to do the community as 
much credit as himself. Aaron Boss, chosen freeholder, is the 
son of Joseph Boss, the brother of Major John. A. M. Bald- 
win and Joseph Cook had previously occupied the John Boss 
place. 

In the same neighborhood lived John Bradbury, father of 
Esquire Benjamin and Rev. Ziba Nichols Bradbury. John 
Butler, a carpenter, kept the Blue Ball Tavern, on the hill, just 
south of the Heminover's. George Robinson and James 
Bradbury lived in the same vicinity. William Heminover, 
Ziba JN^ichols and Richard McPeake are other names that 
appear very early. Peter Mains, the son of Peter Mains, who 
came from Germany in 1800, settled at Sparta in 1815. Thomas 
Beatty, the son of Thomas, who moved to Ohio, settled. Isl5, on 
the farm now occupied by his son, Esquire George B. Beatty. 
James Ludlum had been previously living on th(! same place 
where he had unsuccessfuly attempted to introduce the raising 
of hemp. John Anderson, John Bedell and William B. Ayres 
were neighbors to Mr. Beatty. Capt. Isaac Goble, a cooper, 
was a descendent of David Goble, called '"King David" by 
reason of his large ownership of land. The children of Isaac 
were Matthias, Mahlon, Theodore, Isaac, Alanson, William, 
Orlando, Mrs. Richard McPeake, Mrs. Simeon Struble. The 
present generation are quite numerous, and are engaged for 
the most part in farming. Amos Duston, a soldier of the 
Revolution, lived in the Boss neighborhood as early as 1788. 
Llis daughter Abiah married Esquire J^eatty. 

In 1804: Thomas Lennington moved to Sparta, and bought 
the property now owned l)y the heirs of Isaac Goble. In 1814 
he went to Hamlnirg, and in 1819 to Ohio. His son, John, 
remained at Sparta, where he was a wheelwright for forty 
years. He was justice of the peace for twenty-one years. 



88 SO.Mi: OK JlIK KAKLY SKTTLKRS. 

He is the grandfatlier of Chas. Ilalsey, Commissioner of 
Deeds. Tlie Ruchelles came very early to Hardyston from 
tlie State of New York. They are of rin<ruenot blood, and 
came originally from France. Elder Ford W. Rochelle is of 
this family. Judge R. R. Morris was born in Westchester 
County, N. Y., in 1793. He first came to Sparta about 1808 
to live with his uncle, James Ludlum. He also lived at Ham- 
burg, Newton and Lafayette. He returned to Sparta about 
1836, where he lived until his death, November T, 1874. He 
was of the well-known Morris family, and succeeded Martin 
Ryerson as deputy surveyor under the propi'ietors ; was a large 
landowner, and a soldier in the "War of 1812. He was a mem- 
ber of Council 1837, and was appointed a County Judge in 
1844. The present postmaster, James L. Morris, is his sou, 
and Mrs. Morford, of Newton, is a daughter. 

George B. Case's father came from the East and settled near 
Sussex Mills. Geo. E. was born October 14, 1803, and has 
lived fifty years in his present residence. He married Jane 
Ilitf, 1828, and was the father of Richard W. Case, who has 
three sons and two daughters. The Pullis family in the same 
neighborhood are old residents. Mrs. Pullis has been a mem- 
ber of the church for fifty-two years. 

Henry C. Ivelsey and wife came to Sparta sixty or seventy 
years ago, and bought a house on the site of the present Earl 
House of Joseph Corwin. Their children were John, Mary, 
Aaron FI., Charles, Martha, Elizabeth, "William and Ellen. 
Aaron II. married John I. Blair's sister, Elizabeth, and was 
considered one of the most enterprising men that ever lived in 
Sparta. John was the father of Henry C. Kelsey, the present 
Secretary of State of New Jersey. Joseph Ilurd, a brother of 
Dan, lived at Ilurdtown and was engaged in tlie iron business 
there/ He was a member and trustee of this church. Two 
other brothers were settled, the one, Jacob, at AYoodport, keep- 
ing tavern, and the other, David at Ilurdtown. James Mor- 
row was living next to the church in 1701, and one Morrow 
was the owner of considerable property before the washout 
occurred. Maria Morrow sold the house next to the church 
where James Morrow had lived to Aaron Ivelsey, 1845. The 
present residence of Calvin Dormida is on the site of a house 
once occupied by this family. 

Joseph Fierson bought the farm, Mdiich Noah Crane once 
owned, of Richard Slaght in 1801. Ezekiel Pierson, his 
brother, alread}' lived on the turn])ike. They are the progeni- 
tors of the Piersons who still live in the vicinity. Henry 
Osborne lived, as early as 1800, if not before, where Isaac, his 



SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 89 

son, now lives. Tlie Rikers were among the earliest settlers 
here. The Hills and McDavitts came to this country together, 
and settled in the PiilHs neighborhood as early as 1770. Tlie 
Bonkers were living here eighty or a hundred years ago. The 
Beardslees were early settlei's in North Hardyston. iSamuel, 
John and Morrison Beardslee are among the tirst names that 
occur in the township records. 

History of Sparta Village. 

Physicians. — Up to 1821, David Hunt, of Newton, pre- 
scribed for the sick here. He was followed hy Chas. Yail, of 
Morristown, for a short period (1821-1824), and then by 
William Yail, a brother of Charles. He stayed but a brief 
period, and was succeeded by Seymour Halsey (1829-1834). 

David Melancthon Sayre came from Morris County, in 1829. 
He was born March 26, 1807, at Hanover. He studied while 
practicing here, and received his degree from the College of 
Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1836. He practiced 
here for thirty-four years, with the exception of oneyear.(1843- 
1844), whicli he spent at Hanover. He went to Hanover 
again in 1863 and tried farming ; then engaged in the drug 
business in Newton, 1865 ; resumed his practice, 1866, and died 
at Newton, 1876. He gave $5000 to the Newton Library. 
John R. Stuart took Dr Sayre's place for one year (1843- 
1844), and then went to Newton and practiced medicine there 
for a time and afterward entered the drug business. Jonathan 
Havens was the next resident physician. He remained for one 
year (1863-1864). Theophilus H. Andress, the next and pres- 
ent physician of this place, was born 1841, in Stillwater Town- 
ship, and graduated from the College of Ph^-sicians and 
Surgeons, New York, 1864. His specialty is surgery, for which 
he has a reputation throughout this and adjoining counties. 
" Thoroughly versed in the studies of his profession, he takes a 
front rank, and is generally called in consulation in serious 
cases." Hugh Allen came to Sparta in 1820, but remained 
only a few months, as Dr. Yail paid him to surrender the lield 
to him. Jonathan Havens was located at Sparta as partner of 
Dr. Sayre until 1850. Dr. J. B. Boss settled liere and Avas 
building up a practice when he died. Dr. Mattison practiced 
here a few months in partnership with Dr. Boss. 

Business Places. — Pierson Hurd's store was built and oc- 
cupied by him many years ; then followed John Gusten, 
Sidnev Smith, Chas. Y. Boss, Harvey B, Strait, J. A. Potter 
and H. B. Strait again. The latter was born in Jefferson 



90 SOME OF THE EAKLY SETFLEKS. 

Township, Morris County, N. J., May 3, 1831 ; school teacher 
for six months ; clerk at Rockaway, three years ; home, one 
year ; came to Sparta, April, 1857 ; bought out Derry & 
Morris, and kept store in their place live years ; rented from 
Sidney Smith in 1862, and afterward bought his house and 
store. Corson Timbrell's store was sold to Dan Hurd by 
Joseph Northrup in 1804, and kept by Dan Ilurd until his 
death in 1835 ; then by Zcnas Ilurd, Jas. B. Titman, Aaron 
Kelsey and Whitfield Corson Tind)rell. Mr. Timbrell was Ijorn 
at Petersburg, Morris County, N. J., 1851 ; carried on the 
milling business at Morristown, Stockholm and Unionville, 
N. Y. ; began business at Sparta in 1883. Collins Sanford's 
store was opened as a irrocery hj himself. It is also the office 
of the Sprrrta Signal. ]\[r. Sanford was born in Passaic 
County, 1839 ; came to Sparta as bkmksmith in 1801; was in 
the army 1862-3 ; blacksmith again until 18(»9 ; blacksmith 
and grocer, 1869-73 ; has kept a dry goods and grocery store 
since 1876 ; started the Spcu'ta Signal, a temperance paper, 
1885; the first copy was published March 4; at first a four- 
page monthly, it was made a bi-weekly of eight pages in 1886. 
Mr. S. was elected Justice of the Peace in 1877, and held that 
office live years. 

Potter's store was built and first kept by John and Stewart 
McCarter, of Newton ; then by Dan ilurd, Ayres, Dildine & 
Davis, Morris Wade and J. A. Potter. The latter formerly 
kept a second store at Ogdensburgh. He now has succeeded 
in building up a large trade in a branch store at Deckertown. 
He was born in Springdale, ^N. J., 1840 ; came to Sparta in 
1807, and has been in business here for twenty years. The 
Old . Storehouse which once stood next the church green was 
occupied by Stephen Ilurd and afterward by Lewis Sherman. 
When part of the church green was sold by Sheriff Darrah in 
1819 to Dan Ilurd the southern boundary line of the lot ran 
through the storehouse (see map). Sherman's Storehouse, now 
the residence of Samuel Stanaback, was occupied in turn by 
John McC^arter, James IVEorrow, Lewis Sherman, Morris Wade, 
Dan Ilurd, Jr., J. A. Potter and Mr. Wa«her. The Old Ludlam 
Storehouse was kept by James Ludlum, James Decker and Cullver 
& Howell. The ]\[orris Store was built and first kept by Cullver 
& Howell, Thomas Lawrence, Cliapin, Derry & ]\Iorris and 
H. B. Strait. It is now kept by John 11. Sutton <Sz Co. John 
Sutton was born in Sparta, July 23, 1853 ; went to Dover at 
fifteen ; was a clerk of D. A. Derry for one year ; an engineer 
at Ogden Mine for two years ; clerk with C. Y. Boss, Sparta, 
three years ; with S. S. & D. A. Lyon, Dover, three years ; 



SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 91 

with C. V. Boss, Stanhope, three years ; in business at Sparta 
since 1881 ; introduced the first printino^ press into the village. 

Hotels. — The residence of J. M. Sliafer was formerly a hotel 
kept by W. Earl. The Earl House, at first the private residence 
of Henry C. Kelsey, was rebuilt in 1832 and opened as a hotel 
by John Kelsey. From 1815-64 it was again a private resi- 
dence of Aaron H. Kelsey. William Earl then became the 
owner and kept hotel in it until 1882, when he was followed by 
William E. Koss. The latter was born in Sparta in 1845 ; 
graduated at a business college in 1864 ; was deputy sheriff of 
Sussex County, 1868-71 ; justice of the peace, 1871-3 ; sheriff, 
1873-8 ; Asseiidjlyman, 1881-4. The Ilurd House was kept 
by Joseph Korthrup until 1810, then owned and kept bv Dan 
Hurd until 1832, then by W. H. Hurd, 1835-42, as a temper- 
ance house. It is now occupied by him as a private residence. 
The present residence of Mr. Earl was a hotel after 1845 for a 
number of years. It was kept successively by Cox, Van Kirk, 
Montanye, Reed, Brooks and others. John Stewart in 1798, 
and after him his widow, " Granny" Stewart, kept a tavern in 
an old house next to Jacob Shuman's. The hollcwed-out rock 
once used as a wash basin may still be found near the old well. 
Mrs. Stewart was followed in 1832 by William Hoppaugh and 
he by Jonathan McPeek. The building was torn down in 1876. 
The Glen House was built and opened, 1880, by Isaac Goble. 
He was followed by his son, David Woodruff Goble. David 
was born in Sparta, July 17, 1860. He began business here in 
1885. 

The Upper Blacksmith Shop was formerly occupied in turn 
by H. R. Smith, Jacob Timbrell and John Rochelle. It is 
now rented by John W. Groen, who has recently come from 
Hunterdon County. The Middle Shop was built and run by 
Elias L'Hommedieu and then by John Kohrback. It is now 
in charge of Jacob Timbrell and Silvester McDavitt. Jacob 
Timbrell was born in Sparta, July 20, 1824; drove on a forge 
at Stockholm, about ten years, and at Petersburg, Morris 
County, nine years ; kept a hotel at Walnut Grove, three 
years; did blacksmithing at Lafayette, 1862-4; was in the 
army, 1864-5 ; has been a blacksmith in Sparta since 1866. 
Silvester McDavitt was born near Sparta, 1842 ; learned his 
trade at Andover ; worked twelve years on a farm, and ever 
since at blacksmithing in the village. 

The Lower Shop was formerly occupied by McCormick, 
Anderson and McDavitt, and is now rented by James Condon. 
The latter was born at Double Pond, N. Y., June 22, 1856 ; 
learned his trade with James English, at Newton; a pitsman 



92 SOME OF THE EAliLY SETTLERS. 

two years at Ogden Mine ; in business at Sparta over three 
years. The Stone Shop by tlie mill was built by Judge Mor- 
ris, and rented by "Bill" Allen, English and llill. A tan- 
nery was formerly carried on where Chas. IJonker now lives. 
A fulling-mill, a j)utash factory and sawmill were once in oper- 
ation on the brook Howing from the Glen. 

The residence of llirani Freeman was built and occupied as 
a wheelwright shop by Zophar Halsey. Freeman's shop, owned 
by the Ilurd's, was formerly built and occupied by William 
Kindred. Hiram C. Freeman was born in Danville, N. J., 
January 29, 1839 ; he came to Sparta, 1861, and worked four 
years with Jacob Shuman ; has been in business for himself 
twenty-two years, and for nineteen of them in this village. 
Collins Sanford's place was once occupied as a wheelwright 
shop by Jacob Shuman, and afterward by Rutan. 

Shuman's shop was built by himself in 1875, and he has 
occupied it for twelve years. Jacob Shuman, wheelwright and 
undertaker, was born in Stillwater Township, December 24, 
182-1; came to Sparta, 1841; learned his trade with Zophar 
Halsey; bought out James H. Beach about 1853 ; he has been 
town clerk for fifteen years. John Ross built and once occu- 
pied a wheelwright shop, which has been unoccupied since his 
death. John Lennington carried on the same business in a 
shop for forty years which, until lately, stood behind his house. 
Jacob Henry Shuman, house and carriage painter, was born in 
Sparta, and has been in the business ten years. Samuel 
Stanal)ack, house painter, was born in Hardyston, 1859 ; has 
lived in Sparta since 1860, and has been a painter since 1881. 

Lewis Chamberlain Timbrell, the jeweler, was born at Peters- 
burg, N. J.; commenced business in Sparta about 1880; at 
first for one year in AVilliain EarFs house, then one year in 
Collins Sanford's. He then l)uilt and has since occupied his 
present place of business. The confectionery store was built 
and occu]iied by Theodore Durling in 1884. It is now kept 
by his brother, Henry Durling, wlio was born at Sparta and 
commenced buiness in 1885. A millinery store has been kept 
by Mrs. Bertha Ilornbeck for several years; at first in Collins 
Sanford's, then afterM'ard in the present place. Mrs. Horn- 
beck is from Allentown, Pa., having been born, however, m 
Hardyston To\vnship 

A distillery was built by James (?) Morrow about 1780, and 
was carried on afterward by Job Cory, Thomas Lennington, 
James Ludlum, Isaac Goble and David Goble. There w^as once 
a distillery on the John Decker place, where a creamery was 
afterward carried on for a short time. James L. Decker now 



SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLKES. 93 

carries on the only one in active operation in the place. Mr. 
Decker was assessor 1851-4, 1859-66 and 1870-6 ; collector, 
1877-8 ; chosen freeholder, 1857-8 ; elected sheriff in 1879. Elias 
L'Hommedieu formerly kept a harness-maker's shop in a build- 
ing on the site of Jacob Timbrell's residence. Geo. B. Fisher 
bnilt his present shop and commenced harness makino- in 
Sparta in 1870. He was born in Hunterdon County, Septem- 
ber 3, 1839 ; served as an apprentice from sixteen years of age 
until he was twenty-one in the same business in Somerset 
County, 1860-70. 

Benjamin Bradbury began shoemaking in 1835. At one 
time employed four or live hands. He was born near Sparta, 
and was Justice of the Peace nearly ten years. Jacob You- 
mans learned his trade with Mr. Bradbury, but has been shoe- 
making for himself since. In 1851: James Decker and his son, 
James L., built the grist mill that the latter now owns. In 
1810 Dan Hurd bought a grist mill of Joseph IS^orthruj) on 
the Wallkill back of the Hurd store. It was burned down 
about 1872. Titman & Folk's mill was sold July 15, 1804, 
by James, Kobert, AVilliam and George Morrow to Thomas 
Dennv — a merchant of JN^ew York — with eight acres of land 
for $2375. In 1808 Thomas Denny §old it to Cole & Decker, 
and, in 1809, Cole & Decker sold it to James Ludlum, and 
from him it came by inheritance into the possession of Richard 
R. Morris, who rebuilt it in 1837. From Mr, Morris it M-as 
bought by James B. Titman. It is now one of the largest 
in the county, and is run by Titman & Folk, Mr. Titman 
was born near Bridgeville, Warren County, I^. J., 1820, and 
came to Sparta in 1844. In 1845 he exchanged properties M'ith 
Aaron H. Kelsey, and went to Huntsville to keep store. He 
remained there until 1855, and then came back to Sparta, He 
kept store and carried on forges until 1867, when he relinquished 
both. His advice and assistance have been of great advantage 
to the writer in the preparation of this work, Mr, Titman's 
partner, Henry Folk, came to this country from Germany in 
1854. He married Eliza Murray in 1858 ; was engaged in the 
milling business at iJ^ewton and Flatbrookville ; came to Sparta 
in 1865 ; was made director of the Merchants' National Bank 
at Newton in 1885. A man of untiring energy and kindliness 
of disposition, as the writer has abundant means of knowing. 
A drug store was built in 1872, enlarged in 1881, and lias been 
kept ever since by Dr, T, H. Andress in connection with his 
practice. 

The butchers of the place are at present Calvin Price 
Dormida, Naaman Search and Robert Lance. Mr. Dorniida 



94 SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 

was born in Frankford Township, Sussex County, N. J., 
November 2, 1873 ; was tliree years a pattern-maker at Lafay- 
ette ; one year a millwriii-ht ; nine years a carpenter at Andover 
and Newton and came to Sparta, 1875. Naaman Search was 
born in Sparta, N. J., April 3, 1837 ; was five years at Franklin 
Furnace with Morford and Morris; five years at Hamburg; 
four years with John P. Brown at New Foundland, and has 
beerf in his present business since 1873. Robert Lance was 
born in Warren County, 1842; he was a miller at Sparta, two 
years at the Ilurd mill ; butcher since 1872. lie purchased 
his present dwcllino; and business site seven years ago. 
Thomas Martin, the auctioneer, was born at Plaintield, N. J., 
1838; he came to Sparta in 1861 ; was a mason by trade until 
1865, but has been an auctioneer since. 

The keeping of boarders in summer has become a regular 
business, and is carried on by the following : Moses Delany, 
Mrs. Greycen, Mrs. J. B. Boss, Mrs. Imogene Lyon, Miss 
Al)by J, Lyon, Geo. B. Fisher, Jac. II. Shuman and Richard 
R. Smith. Mr. Smith was born in Morris Count}', July 22, 
1821 ; was a blacksmith twenty-four years in Sparta, and for 
twenty four years has kept a boarding-house for visitors from 
the city. 

The agent of the New York, Susquehanna and Western 
Railroad Company is Samuel Clarence Kays. ]\Ir. Kays was 
born at Wurtsboro, Sullivan County, N. Y., March 14, 1858; 
he first moved to Beaver Run, then to Sparta m 1875 ; studied 
telegraphy at Oberlin, Ohio,' for one year ; in Dr. Andress's 
store for five years from October, 1877", as drug clerk and 
operator ; took charge of Sparta de])Ot as telegraph operator, 
freight and express agent, October, 1882. A telegraph com- 
pany was formed in Sparta a few years ago, and a '' loop " was 
constructed to connect with the Western Union at Ogdens- 
burgh. This line came into the hands of the above company a 
year ago by the terms of the original agreement. The office 
has always been in Dr. Andress's drug store. Esquire Geo. B. 
Beatty is the Justice of the Peace. He has held this ofiice for 
thirty-one years continuously. He was born near feparta in 
1811, and has occu])ied many township offices. His occupa- 
tion is farming. The Commissioner of Deeds is Charles 
Halsey, appointed April 1, 1886. Mr. Halsey was elected 
Town Clerk in 1879. He is a harness-maker by trade, but has 
confined himself to farming, though at times in general demand 
as an accountant. The stage driver and livery man is John 
Crawford, who is not a native of S])arta, but long a resident of 
the place and a most useful and widely known citizen. 



SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 95 

Two Other prominent men deserve notice — viz., William 
Earl and Thomas O'Maley. "William Earl was born in Ireland, 
February, 22, 1815. His father's farm is still in the family. 
He came to this country when a lad. Spent his time before 
coming to Sparta at Newark, Jersey City, Cleveland, Dover, 
and Newton. He kept a tavern in Sparta, first, where he now 
lives, then in Mr. Shafer's house, and afterward in the Earl 
House until 1882. Thomas O'Maley, a contractor, teinpo- 
rarily residing in New York, was at the time of his death en- 
gaged in a very large contract in opening new streets. He 
was a man of most generous impulses, and his sudden death 
very recently has cast a gloom over the whole community. 
He was born in Cheshire, Conn., February 29, 1844 ; began 
contracting in 1866 in the Ogden Mine, Ogdensburgh ; he was 
also a contractor for the Koberts Iron Company and the 
Allentown Rolling Mill Company. He died Friday, January 
21, 1887. 

There have been at one time or another six forges at work 
here. They made wagon tire and blacksmiths' iron, "blooms," 
or "octagon" iron. The blooms were carted to Rockaway, 
principally to Col. Jos. Jackson s rolling mills. But about 1830 
James Decker and Lewis Sherman bou<>ht the forge near 
Decker's mill, which had been built by Robert Sinai, of New 
York, in 1827, and which had been leased previousl}^ by 
Stejihen Lyon and Joseph Young, and in 1836 took into part- 
nership Nelson Hunt, of Yermont, who introduced the making 
of anchors. This forge was in operation until the close of the 
Rebellion. The uppermost forge by the lake was in existence 
as early as 1788, even before the land on which it stands (the 
999-acre tract) was taken up. Roth the tract and the forge 
were owned successively by Peter McKee, Cole & DeckeK and 
by Nortlirup & Ludlum. In 1810 Northrup sold out his one- 
half share to Dan Hurd. Isaac Hurd inherited his father's 
share, and Judge Morris inherited Ludlum's and bought out 
Isaac Hurd. The tract and forge finally came into the possess- 
ion of Mr, J. B. Titnian, who afterward sold out nearly all 
the tract to Poppenhausen & Company. The forge and dam 
next below disappeared almost altogether long ago, and the 
evidences of them were only accidentally discovered. The 
washaway forge — so called in deeds and surveys — is the one 
whose existence and situation are indicated by the hole in the 
rock over which the path up the Glen passes. It is supposed 
to have been owned by Mon*ow, and was washed away when 
the dam broke at the time Jabez Kinney was drowned. The 
third forge, at the entrance to the Glen, has had the following 



96 SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS. 

owners: Morrow, Thomas Lenniiif^ton (until 1814), Ludlum 
& Lyon, R. R. ^lorris and J. B. Titnian. It was in operation 
until 1867. Stephen Hurd built a forge on the Sherman prop- 
erty in 1822. There were also forges at Hopewell and in the 
Boss neighborhood. 

The carting of ore and iron employed many people at one 
time. These materials, together wiih anchors, were taken to 
Lake Ilopatcong, and sliipped on canal boats at Wood port and 
at Henderson Rocks, and sent up and down the Morris Canal. 
Almost the last anchors made were to till a large Government 
contract given to J. B. Titman in 1864. 

The first returns from the postmaster at Sparta were made 
January 1, 1798, Init the records of the Post-Office Department 
having been burned in 1837, there may have been an office here 
at an earlier date. Indeed, we learn from the records of the 
Hamburg post-office that on " March 30, 1797, Joel Smith, post 
rider, arrived (from the North) with the Sparta and Rockaway 
packet." In Steven's Post-Office Manual of 1808 we learn 
that Joseph Northrup was at that time postmaster at Sparta, 
and that it cost a shilling for a letter from New York. The 
postmasters since Northrup are Stephen Plurd, Jas. Morrow, 
John McCarter, Elias Beach, W. H. Hurd, Ben. Bradbury, 
Reeves Hudson, J. B. Titman (T. H. Andress), Jas. L. Morris. 
James Ludlum Morris was born at Newton, April 17, 1828. 
He has lived at various intervals at Newton, Hamburg and the 
City of New York. He came to Sparta in 1838, belouired to 
the tirm of Derry & Morris for a time and was made postmaster 
in 1886. 

Sixty years ago there was only one house above the Hurd 
dwelling. Houses may have been built on the church land 
before it was taken up by the trustees in May 30, 1787. At 
that time the church was already erected, as the minutes of 
the original survey say. The early settlers looked first for 
minerals and then for water-power. This accounts for the 
very early taking up of the Rutger's tract (1730), and the 
Welsh House tract (1761). The Boss neighborhood and the 
Glen, the brook behind the upper village, and the one running 
through the lower part, were probably inhabited before the 
Revolution. Just wdiere the inhabitants then lived, or who 
they Avere, it has not yet been discovered. The travel from 
Morristown and the east to the west and northwest would all 
pass through Sparta. The turnpike from l\rorristown to 
Sparta, autliorized in 1804, was as much a result as a cause of 
travel. The long sheds opposite the old Hurd tavern were 
in early days constantly crowded with teams on their way to 



SOME OF THE EAKLY SE'lTLERS. 97 

New York with produce and ufuine of all kinds. Serator 
Thomas Lawrence sjteaks of Sparta as one of the most prom- 
ising villages in the county forty years ago. He was living 
here at that time, and carrying on business at the large mill 
and the lower store. He was married while here by Rev. 
William Torrey, for whom he has always cherished a feeling 
of deep respect and contidence. 

Township Records. 

To get at the names of the early settlers we have carefully 
examined the first town- committee book of the township of 
Hardyston, now in the possession of Senator Lawrence. Tiiese 
records go back to 1Y90, but only come down to 1819. Yernon 
was set off from Hardyston in 1792, and township matters M'ere 
in the charge of the freeholders until 1798, when the first town 
committee was formed. The collectors for these thirty years 
(1790-1819) were Thos. Yan Kirk, Jos. Perry, Simon Wade, 
William Braisted, David Fford, John Beardslee, Job Cory and 
Sam. Beardslee. The assessors were Andrew Linn, Jos. Sharp, 
Elias Ogden and Thomas Lennington. The town clerics were 
Elias Ogden, Zebulon Sutton and John Lanterman. 

The following names appear very early and very often, 
either as freeholders, town-committee or commissioners of ap- 
peal : Robert Ogden, Elias Ogden, Thomas Lawrence, Thos. 
Yan Kirk, Jos. Sharp, John and Sam. Beardslee, William 
Braisted and Simon Wade. 

We can arrive at some idea of the scarcity of population 
when we find that all of Hardyston in 1793 was assessed only 
£114. 17s. 9d. ; and that in the same year the State and County 
tax was only £110. 18s. 4d. In 1798 the amount of the dupli- 
cate was £104 7d., and the State and Countv tax was £85. 
12s. lid. In 1815 the two amounts were $394.24 and $325.90. 
In 1807 there were only 291 names on the duplicate, for which 
both collector and assessor were paid six cents a name. 

In 1799, Martin Connett, Capt. Thos. Hill and James Jerol- 
emon, all dwelling in this village, were paid $4.50 for services 
in burying a pauper. It seemed to take 19 cents worth of 
spirits when a pauper was laid out, and 10 cents worth when 
he was buried, if we may judge from several items to that 
effect. We seem nevertheless to have been a Sabbath observ- 
ing community at that time, for in 1812 only two men were 
fined, each a dollar, for "breach of Sabbath." But the num- 
ber of lines of $14 each for ])rcaking the Seventh Command- 
ment were far too many. And some otherwise respectable 



names are found in this disgraceful connection. 



(7) 



98 SOME OF THE EAKLY !?ETTLERS. 

The wildness of the country is indicated by tlie numerous 
wildcat scalps paid for at S2 each, and as late as 1820, s2() was 
paid for a wolf scalp. This reminds ns that, in the memory of 
not a few now living, a lierd of deer came into the village and 
in open day. Esquire Beatty's father built his sheep-cote 
against the side of his house, and with very high M'alls, on ac- 
count of the prevalence of wolves. 

It may not be uninteresting to note the prices paid eighty- 
years ago for certain articles of common use. "We tind in the 
account of the overseer of the poor for 1805 the following 
charges : IG lbs. wheat Hour, 7 and 4 ])ence ; 3^ yds. linen at 3 
shillings a yd. ; 3 11)S. butter at 1 and <» pence a pound ; earthen 
mug to stew tea in, 10 pence; l-i lbs. of liye meal at 34 
shillings per cwt. ; 2^ lbs. pork at 1 shilling per lb. ; 1 lb. 
candles at 2 shillings ; 2 lbs. sugar at 1 and 6 pence a lb. ; 1 
quart of spirits, 1 and 6 pence ; ^ gall, molasses, 3 and 3 pence, 
5 "skanes" of thread at 2 pence a skein ; 1 qt. of brandy at 
the burying of town "' porper," 50 cents ; digging a grave, 75 
cents ; cothn, ^2.50. The well-known Col. Aaron Ogden con- 
ducts a suit for the Town Committee in 1700. We are told that 
in 1798 we must deduct 1-10 to bring " proclamation '' money 
into " York " money. The Town Committee, Commissioners of 
Appeal and Town Clerk were all paid SI a day tor their 
services. 

Education. 

Thelirst schoolhouse in the village was an old log building 
opposite the Sherman property. It stood on land formerly 
owned by the church, and it was sold in 1815 by the trustees 
to William Corwin for $53, including the land. The land had 
been previously sohl by the church to Thomas Hill, and by 
him transferred to the trustees of the scdiool. School was also 
kept on the hill in the upper part of the village in an old 
building, now i)art of the house owned by Squire Beatty. In 
1812 a Board of Trustees was incorporated in accordance with 
an act of the Legislature passed November 27, 1794. May, 
1815, a grant of land was made by the Presbyterian Church 
for a school, on the condition that when not used for that pur- 
pose it should revert to the church again. A building was ac- 
cordingly erected on the present school site in 1815 by AVilliam 
Bohannoii for ^589. It was two stories high, 30 x 20 feet in 
size, and had a fireplace in each story. This building burned 
down, and another was erected in 1800 by Morris Iloppaugh for 
SJnIoOO. This is 20 x 35 feet, two stories high, and still in use. 

The trustees, so far as we have any record of them from 1 81 2 



SOMIO OF THK KAKLV SKTTLKRS. 99 

to tlie present time (lS8f)), are the following: 1812, Job Cory, 
Jas. Liiclluin, Thorn. Leniiiiioton, I)au Ilnrd, William Corwiii ; 
1816, James L. Hiird, John Bnrwell; 1817, Henry Kelsey, 
David Devor, Stephen Ilurd ; 1825, Geoi-ge Morrow, John 
Butler, David Cory, Henry C. Kelsey, Lewis Sherman ; 1827, 
Kev. Noah Crane, 'Nathaniel M. Hinds, John MeCarter ; 1829, 
MeConnell, Wiman ; 183;^>, Edward E. Robison, A¥illiam 
Decker, John Lennington, Rev. James Wickoff; 1834, Henry 

C. Beach, Pierson Hnrd, Elias ]3each ; 1830, Rev. E. F. Day- 
ton, David M. Savre ; 1838, Levi Dewitt ; 1839, Rev. William 
Torrev, R. R. Morris; 1841, Joel Albers, Nelson Hunt, 
W. 11. Hnrd, J. P. Van Cleef; 1842, Jas. S. Emrie; 1843, 
Doctor Stewart; 1844, Wm. D. Dewitt- 1846, Clarkson Bird; 
1847, John Stites; 1849, Zophar Halsey, JoJ> Cory, John y^ 
Boss, G. B. Beatty; 1850, Moses Woodruff -^185 1, ^Thomas 
LaM'rence, Aaron H. Kelsey; 1852, Benj. Bradbury; 1855, 
Henry Hammel ; 1856, William Kinney, Morris Wade ; 1859, 
James L. Decker; 1860, Smith M. Fisher ; 1862, David H. 
Lantz ; 1863, Jac. L. Shuman ; 1864, Robr. P. Washer ; 1866, 

S. W. Slockbower; 1867, Mills Yan Kirk; 1868, John 
Puder; 18(i9, Jacob Timbrell ; 1870, Henry Folk: 1871, 
Harvey B. Strait; 1874, Stephen Rochelle ;" 1880, T. H. 
Andress ; 1882, F. C. Easton ; 1884, Moses Delaney ; 1886 
Robert Lantz. 

The teachers of the Academy, so far as can be discovered, 
were the following : Wilcox, Lent, J. W. Hincliman, 1818 ; 
Eliz. Morrow, 1834; Elijah Betts, Lefevre, Dayton, Decker, 
1836 ; Wm. Piatt, Jane Cummiuirs, Isaiah Condit, E. O. Dem- 
arest, Bnrnham, 1839 ; Aaron Woolf,1841 ; Elias Beach, 1842; 
William Lyman, 1844 ; Martha A. Jones, 1845 : C. H Gilder- 
sleeve, 1846 ; Miss Hnrd, 1847 ; J. J. Morfitt, 1847; Ziba N. 
Bradbury, 1849; Ribble, 1850; Jos. W. Manning and wife, 
1854; Miss Boss, 1856; Moses Delaney, 1858-65, 1876-8, 
1880-1 ; Lesbia Sherman, Delphine Northrnp, Sarah Cory, 
Abby J. Lyon, Moses Woodruff, 1865; E. Munson, 1866; C, 
W. Austin', 1867 ; E. Dunlap, Miss H. M. Hunt, Eliz. Chapin, 
1871; Hiram Friar, Ella K. Fisher, 1873; J. O. Austin, 1874; 
Delia Delaney, 1876 ; R. M. Harden, Lnogene Smith, 1879; 

D. Dennis, Jennie Johnson, 1879 ; Anna Delaney, 1880 ; B. 
D. Potter, 1881 ; Emma Gray, Ella Shoemaker, 1881 ; Heman 
Leach, 1884; John W Thorne, 1885-7. Mr. Thome was born 
at Mt. Hope, Orange County, N. Y., and has taught one year 
at Beaver Run, one year at Frankford Plains and two years at 
Sparta. Moses Delaney has taught ten years in all and Miss 
Gray six. The above list is only approximately complete or 



100 SOMK or TlIK EAIil-V sKTlLKKS. 

connect. A Young Ladies' Seminary was established by Mrs. 
S. C. Dayton, tlie widow of Rev. E. F. Dayton, in 1845. A 
bnilding for this purpose was erected by Pierson liurd at a 
cost of S^SOO. This school was successfully maintained for 
twenty years. The Ilev. Dr. Beard also conducted a private 
English and classical school for a short time liere in the same 
buildinff. 



XI.— LIST OF COMMUNICANTS. 

The following is the list of communicants from the begin- 
ning (May 16, 1805) of the records to January, 1887. [w. for 
wife, c for certificate, * for present members.] 

I, Christian Clay ; 2, Mary Clay, w. of Christian; 3, Jonathan Sutton; 
4, Robert Ogden ; 5, Jonathan Sharp ; 6, Jane Mills, w. of Robert ; 7, Mary 
Johnson, w. of Andrew ; 8, Gabriel Paine ; 9, John Linn, and 10, Martha 
Linn, w. of John. These are supposed to have been the original members 
surviving at the above date. 

May. 1805, Hannah Ogden, w. of Robert ; September, 1806, John Butler ; 
Polly Butler, w. of John; Nancy Pitney, w. of Benj.; September, 1807, 
Jemima Davis, w. of Wm., c. ; April, 1808, Nicholas Byram ; Martha Corwin, 
w. of Wm., Jr.; Rhoda Whitehead, w. of Nathaniel ; Margaret Joralomon, 
w. of J., c; Nathan Whitehead, John Johnson ; September, 1808, Margaret 
Hurd, w. of Jos.; Mary Morrow, w. of Rob.; Elizabeth Morrow, w. of 
Thomas ; Sarah Roberts Hindes, William Corwin, Jr.; Rachel Sutton, w. of 
Jon.; Mehitable Perrigo ; April, 1809, John Burrell, Cyrus Condict ; Phoebe 
Condict, w. of Cyrus ; Rebecca Sutton, John Ryan ; September, 1809, 
Nicholas Eherson, c; Mary Eherson, w. of Nicholas, c; Abigail Talmage, 
w. of Nathan, c. ; Mary Johnson, w. of Sam., c. 

i^pril, 1810, James Morrow, Jane Morrow, w. of Jas., c ; Abigail, 
vcolored) ; June, 1810. Margaret Simmons, w. of Peter; September, 1810, 
Hermans Carter; Jane Carter, w. of Hermans; June, 1811, John 
Yaw, David Arters, Elizabeth Arters, w. of Dav.; September, 1811, 
Mary Buckley, w. of John, Sr. ; October, 181 1, Susannah Bird, w. 
of Dan.; Susannah Cooper, w. of John; Elizabeth Farver, w. of 
Wm , c; September, 1812, Mary McCuUom, w. of Alex.; William Durling, 
Sarah Ann Durling, w. of William ; May, 1813, Samuel Johnson, Hannah 
Robinson ; October, 1815, Elizabeth Johnson, Charity Pierson, Nancy Hurd, 
Bethany Osborn ; April, 1816, Elizabeth Linn ; June, i&iO, Phoebe Mat- 
thews, w. of John; Rachel Wade, w. of Sam.; Phoebe Easton , October 
iSin, Mary Durling, Samuel Wade. 

Received at the North Church, August, 18 18, Jane McDanieis, w. of Jos.: 
Anne Hamond, Abbey Wade, Norica Munson, w. of Jacob ; Mary Elizabeth 
Ban, w. of Matthew; George Buckley, Sarah Van Duzer, w. of Wm., c; 
Richard Whitaker, c; Elizabeth Whitaker, w. of Rich., c; September, 1818, 
received at Sparta, Rhoda Bailey, Wm. Corwin, c; Martha Corwin, c; 
received at North Church, November, 1818, Sarah Harding, Sarah Linn, 
Peter Simons, Joseph Perrigo, Johnson N. Gould, c; Elizabeth Gould, w. of 
Johnson, c. 

January, i8iq, Mary McDanieis, Nancy Silsby, Jane Wood, Sally Barton, 
Margaret Buckley, Daniel B. Wilcoks, Elizabeth Beardslee, Jane Shirts, 

v8) 



102 LIST OF COMMUNICAJ^TS. 

Isaac Stin, Seth Byratu, Cornelius Demarest, Sally Demarest, Jane Demarest, 
Jane Jones, Julia Kimble, Margaret Knox, Catherine Countryman, Hannah 
Campbell; March, 1 8 ig, Abigail Barton, Milinda Beardslee, John T. Perry, 
Harriet Fairchild, Elizabeth Demarest, Elsee Buckley, Hannah Carpenter, 
Thomas Beardslee. Daniel Lanterman, Phoebe Munson, Nancy Gardiner, 
Mary Adams, Eliza Fowler, Rachel Beardslee, Martha Reeve, Sarah Byram, 
Barbara Lanterman, Maria Demarest, Mary Stin, Peter Demarest, Peter 
Shirts, Catharme Nesbit, Mary Van Wirt, Jane Perry, c. ; Daniel Edwards, 
c. ; Mary Edsall, w. of James ; Priscilla Vibhart, w. of \Vm. ; Margaret 
Whitaker, w of Peter. 

After the dismissing of 62 members to form the churches of North Hardys- 
ton and Hamburg, May, 1819, there remained but the following 37 : 
Christian Clay, Mary Clay, Robert Ogden, Jane Mills, Mary Johnson, 
John Butler, Polly Butler, Nancy Pitney, Martha Corwin, Margaret Joialo- 
mon, Margaret Hurd, Mary Morrow, Sarah Roberts Hindes, William Corwin, 
Rebecca Sutton, Mary Johnson, Sarah Van Duzer, Rhoda Ba'ey, Phoebe 
Munson, James Morrow, Jane Morrow, Mary McCullom, William Durling, 
Sarah A. Durling, Samuel Johnson, Ham, ah Robinson, Charity Pierson, 
Nancy Hurd, Bethany Osborn, Phebe Matthers, Rachel Wade, Phoebe Easton, 
Mary Durling, Samuel Wade, Mary E. Ban, Daniel Lanterman, Barbara Lan- 
terman. 

June, 1819, Maria Rorick ; October, 1821, Elizabeth Pierson ; September, 
1822, Drusilla Roe, w. of Benj. ; Jane Hurd, w. of Isaac ; June, 1823, Mar- 
garet Cumming, c; Jacob Shipman, Elijah Curtis, Margaret Curtis, w. of 
Elijah ; October, 1823, Eliza Shipman, w. of Jacob ; Mary Crawford, w. of 
James; June, 1824, Amelia Beardslee, w. of John, c; July, 1824, Elias 
Beach. 

April, 1825. — John Bonker, Henry Osborn, Abraham Wintermoot, 
Martha Cory, William Devor, Catharine Byram,*; James Crawford, Mary 
Wintermoot, Mary Ackerman, Esther Pierson, David Cory, John Mathers, 
Stephen Hurd, Saiah McGill ; July, 1825, Rebecca Johnson. 

January, 1827, Matthias H. Og-den, Jerusha Ogden, William A. Ogden, 
Phoebe Ogden, James Braisted, Mary Braisted, Jane Biaisted, Wm. M. Tal- 
mage, Elizabeth Ann Wesiner, Catharine Wilson, Mary Van Kirk, Job B. 
Woodruff, Chilian Riker ; April, 1827, Jacob Timbrel, Anna Decker, William 
Decker, Serin Wade, Elizabeth Braisted, iSarah D. Woodruff, Jane Harparee. 

October, 1827, Elizabeth Cory ; February, 182S, Sarah Timbrel, Elizabeth 
McClenon ; April, 1828, a new list was made containing 61 of the above 
names, and continuing as follows : November, 1828, Elizabeth Hayward, 
Ann Campbell, Jane Denny ; April, 1829, Margaret Beach w. of Elias, c. ; 
Hannah Kelsey, c. 

April, 1831, Moses Riker, Hester Riker, ■v. of Moses ; Margaret Hindes, 
Susan S. Pitney ; May, 1831, Mary Easton, John Boss,*; Elizabeth Bosf. H. 
0. Beach, Eliza A. Beach, Joseph Corwin, Isaac C. Beach, Phcebe Reed, 
Hannah Degrow, Isaac Gary, Jane Ayres, Martha Osborn, Mary A. Pitney, 
John Lennington, Anna Lennington, Elizabeth Lennington, Hyle Lerning- 
ton, Rachel Lennington, Maria Slorrow, Electa Morrow, Sarah Gary, 



LIST OF COMMUNICANTS. 103 

Elizabeth Hurd, Ann Eliza Losey, Thomas B. Beardslee, Sarah Beardslee, 
James S. Morrow, Mary Kinney, Phoebe Cook, Amelia Siney, Sarah Ham- 
mell. 

January, 1832, William Ayers, Acelia Avers, Nelly Decker, Phebe T. 
Morrow, Julia Ann Cummings, Mrs. Pulis ; April, 1S32, Sarah Beatty, Ann 
Chamberlain, Elizabeth Van Kirk, Elizabeth Slockbower, Jane Cummings, 
Amy Stites, Mary Ayers, Arthur McGill, Joseph Pierson, Jr.; Moses Lanter- 
man, Henry Beardslee, Nancy Beardslee, John Hammell, Mary Hurd, Wm. 
D. Pulis, Rachel Hayward, Shipman Cox, Robert Braisted, William Braisted, 
Jane A. Hinkle, Emily Van Kirk, Delia Smith, Thomas Dustan, William M. 
Cory, Sarah Woodruff, c. ; Hannah Campbell, c. ; Mary Wright, Elizabeth 
Morrow, Mrs. Mary Duston, Jane Duston, Miss Mary Duston. Andrew Chid- 
ester, Mary Chidester, Peter Van Kirk, William B. Ayers, Elizabeth Mary 
Cox, Elizabeth Van Kirk, Abby Jane Wade, Rebecca D^cker. 

December, 1832, Mrs. Margaret McDevit, Sarah Kinney, Martha Ann Kelsey, 
Martha Ackerman, Abraham Ackerman, Hannah Cornelia Hurd, Eliza McKin- 
ney, Thomas Ackerson, Magdalen Gray, Matilda Smith, Elizabeth Whitford, 
Olive Mains, Catherine Conkling, Jane Beatty, Elizabeth Devore, Harriet Cum- 
mings, Barbara Pulhamus, Hester Young, Robert Beatty. James Van Kirk, 
John Stites, Hannah Hammel, Elizabeth Harparee, Jane Chamberlain, Eliza- 
beth Stites, Samuel Cory, Hannah Knox, Nancy Demarest, Samuel Stites, 
Morrison Beardslee, Abiah Dustan, Mary Sweany, Ada Stites, Elizabeth 
Siney, Sarah Fountain, Peter Stites, Jacob Stites, Margaret Stites, Noah 
Chamberlain, Sarah Kinney, Anna Pierson, Joseph Stites, Mary Clark. 

October, 1833, Elizabeth Lanterman, Barbara Ann Lanterman, Margaret 
Kinney, Catharine Goble, Phebe Chamberlain, Susan Sargeant, Rebecca 
Braisted, Mrs Maines ; September, 1835, Elisha Mulford, Catharine 
Mulford, w. of Elisha ; July, 1836, Ruhama Wade, w. of Bering, 
c; December, 1836, Joseph Wright, Catherine Russell, w. of John, c; 
Chas. Ackerson, Mrs. Ackerson, w. of Chas.; June, 1837, Mary Sher- 
man, w. of Azar, Sarah E. Dayton, w. of EzraF.; June, 1838, Mrs. Mary 
Williams, c, Zophar Halsey, c; February, 1839, Job Cory.* ; Charles Cory, 
Richard C. Roe, Noadiah Wade, Phebe Lanterman, Joanna Lanterman,* ; 
June, 1839, John Beatty, Mary Morrow, Eliz. Wintermute, Mary Knox; 
November, 1839. Martha Wade, w. of Noadiah, c; Rebecca Cory, w. of 
Samuel, Hester Morrow ; December, 1839, William D. Pulis, Julia A. 
Braisted, c. ; Elizabeth Whitaker, c. ; Margaret Pulis. 

February, 1840, Mrs. Jane Ross, Mrs. John Beadle, Morris Wade, Henry 
Crane, Charles Centerbox, Mrs. Mary Peters, c. ; John P. Conger, c; Cathe- 
rine Conger, c. ; June, 1840, Simon Bemer, c; Mary Bemer, c; Eliza Conger, 
c. ; September, 1840 Sarah A. Fi^her, c; Mrs. Ann Emrie, c. ; December, 
1841, Elizabeth Kelsey, Emeline Hurd, Drusilla Van Kirk ; March, 1842, 
Julia Kelly, w. of Andrew, c; Sarah Roe, w. of Benj , c. ; June, 1842, 
Catherine Bradbury, w. of Benj., c. ; August, 1842, Hannah Byram ; 
November, 1842, Abner Burnham, c, Elizabeth Burnham, w. of Abner, c, 
Elizabeth Hoppaugh,* c ; Phebe Kimball,* w. of Moses, c. 

February, 1843, Sarah Halsey, c. ; Susan A. Farber, c. ; Gilbert Redfield, c; 



104 LIST OF COMMUNICANTS. 

John Conckling, c; April, 1843, Catherine Lanterman, c; Walter 
Howell, c; Sally C. Howell, c; Harriet Howell, c ; Barbara Ann Munson, 
Sarah C. Crane, Benj. Bradbury,* ; Bethania Chidester, Naomie WilliamsoH, 
Eliza E. DilJine, Charles Boss, Phebe Ann Boss, Emeline Beach, Amelia B. Davis, 
Amzi Bedell, Elizabeth Sickle, Mary Rose, Wm. N. Siney, John Stites, 2d., 
Mahala Ayres. Mary Ann Brooks ; June, 1843, Abby Jane Smith, Jane Hop- 
paugh, John M. Grecian, Susan Grecian, w. of John ; Henry W. Ogden ; 
September, 1843, Jane Easton, c; April, 1844. Emily B.Torrey, c.;MariaW. 
Easton, Martha Ann Beach ; July, 1844, Henry Beach. Rhoda Beach, 
Caroline Byram ; January, 1845, Jos. H. Beach, c; Elvira C. Beach, w. of 
Jos. H., c; June. 1845, Catherine Manes, w. of Jas.*; December, 1846. Sarah 
J. Halsey, w. of Zophar, c* ; Jane S. Wade, w. of Morris, c; March, 1847, 
James Roe, Elizabeth Roe, w. of James, c. ; Amzi Beach. Sarah Beach, w. of 
Amzi ; George Allen, Henrietta Halsey ; June, 1848, Ellen C. Kelsey, Letitia W. 
Roe; June, 1849, Abigail Decker, c ; Horace Decker, c; Margaret Decker, c. 

August, 1851, Barbara Ann Grecian, w. of John M., c; Theodosia Goble, 
w of John, c. ; Mary Ann Osborn, w. of Henry ; January, 1852, Joseph W. 
Manning, c. ; Mary Manning, w. of Joseph, c. ; Edarar Manning, Abby Jane 
Manning; February, 1853, Mrs. Eleanor Smith, c; Elizabeth Kelsey, w. of 
Aaron H.; Daniel D. Chapin ; May, 1853, Harriet A. Higbie, w. of Daniel, 
c; Charity Chapin, w. of Dan. D.; January, 1854, Mary Cory, Susan Eliza- 
bpth McCoy; April, 1854, Lavina Mileham, w. of William, c; January, 
1855, Mrs. Anne Buckley, c; Wm. Buckley; Francis Whiteford, c. ; Mar- 
garet Whiteford, w. of Francis, c; March, 1855, Henry C. Byram ; Octo- 
ber, 1856, Mary E. Willard, w. of Rev. L. , c. ; Maria Smith, c; January, 
1857, Amzi Bedell, c; Hannah Bedell, w. of Amzi, c; April, 1857, Charles 
J. Beattie, Sarah Hurd,* w. of Whitefield ; Ellen Ross,* w. of John ; Mary A 
Kelsey, w. of Chas., c; July, 1857, Rachel Goble,* w. of Isaac, c; Sarah C. 
Brcoks,* w. of Daniel. 

January, 1858, Clarissa Strait, w. of Harvey, c: Lesbia Sherman,*; Eliza- 
beth Boss, Ophelia Halsey, Saring Halsey, Adaline Hurd ; April, 1858, 
David S. Tahuadge, Hen. More,* ; Morris Hoppautrh, Sidney Smith, Harvey 
B. Strait, Benjamin Roe, Sarah A. Pinckney. Charles Chapin, Calvin Beatty, 
John D. Vreeland, Harrison H. Wright, Mary Arabella Roe, Sarah Ellen Maines, 
Mary E. More,*; Stewart Mains, Sarah Kinney,*; J. D. Vreeland, Henrietta 
Stites, Melissa Pierson, Sar. Cory, Cornelia Cory, Tra Ellett, Hylinda Mains,*; E. 
Dayton Boss, W. Sanford Dunlap, Emma E. Lanterman, Amelia Ann Ogden, 
Sarah M. Lanterman, Phebe P. Lanterman,*; Alary MoKinney, Em. Casinore, 
Ruth Hoppaugh,* ; Martha Cooper, Sarah A. Norman.*; G B. Craig, J.Byram 
Hoppaugh,*; Sam. Chambers, Peter Lanterman, Fanny Atkiu, Irene E. 
Chidester, Isaac G. Cary, Sarah M. Cary, Martha J. Siney,*; Abby J. Lyon, 
Mary E. Hurd, Aaron Drake, Jas. J. Slockhower, Mary E. Duffy,*; Jane 
Hunt, Eliza Hoppaugh,*; Corintha Ogden, Charlotte Cory, Sarah C. Munson, 
Susan Dean. Christopher Beatty, J. Bedell Boss, Phebe J. Rochelle, Nicholas 
Byram, Henry Breed, John Cary, Sarah E. Van Auken ; July, 1858, Eph- 
raim K. Sanford, Matthew Sanford, c. ; Sarah A. Ellett, w. of Samuel ; 
Elizabeth George, w. of John, c.*; Harriet Wade, M. Jane Smith ; April, 



LIST OF COMMUNICANTS. 105 

1858, Delilah Chamberlain, Elizabeth Slockbowor, w. of James ; Margaret 
Howell, Bethania Wintermute ; July, 1858, Sarah More, w. of Hen.* ; Phebe 
Strader, Selina Strader, Caroline M. Cary, Sarah E. Howell. 

January, i860, Mary A. Wintermute ; April, i860, Elizabeth Woodruff; 
July, i860, Elizabeth Craig, w. of Geo. B. ; January, 1861, Hannah Moore, 
w. of Rev. W. L., c. ; April, 1861, Phebe J. Bonker, w. of Seymour, c.*; 
Hiram C. Freeman, c* ; April, 1S62, Ellen Decker,* w. of J. L. ; Eliza Decker, 
w. of John,* ; Mrs. Norman, Jos. V. Smith, c. ; July, 1862, Charlotte E. 
Smith, w. of Joseph, c; Mrs. Cornelia Crane, c; Joshua Walton; July, 
1864, Caroline Durling, w. of Chas. ; January, 1865, Francis A. Bacheler, 
w. of Rev. F. E. M., c. ; Ella Cory, Susan A. Robbins, Mary J. Rochelle, w. 
of W. Woodruff; Dency Slockbower, Annie M. Longcor ; April, 1865, Hul- 
dah A. Kinney, w. of Mr. Roe ; Harriet H. Grecian, Thomas B. Gould, 
William Riddell,* ; Phebe E. Ogden, Hannah G. Longcor, Samuel D. Mitchell, 
John George,*; Harriet D. Roe, Moses Thorp ; July, 1865, Francis C. Easton. 

January, 1866, Marcus L. Beardslee, c; Drusilla Beardslee, c; Eliza 
Taylor,*; April, 1866, Sarah Van Kirk, Delilah Washer,*; Abby J. Mains, 
w. of W. H., c. ; October, 1866, Geo. H. Bradbury. Mary Mills,*; w. of 
Rob. M. ; Fanny Boss, w. of C. V., c. ; April, 1867, Emma V. V. Boss, c.*; 
Hiram M. Sands, Abbie A. Bradbury ; January, 1868, Emma Bradbury, * 
w. Sar. Munson c* ; Rebecca Sands, Mary Earl,* w. of William ; Wm. 
Rogers, Henry Dunlap ; April, 1868; Peter Stites, M. J. Stites, w. of 
Peter ; Abbie Beardsley, Cordelia E. Shuman, Mary Green ; July, 1868, 
Mary Braisted, c; Sarah C. Braisted, c.*; Elizabeth De Groot, c. ; July, 
1869, Abby J. Lyon,* c. ; November, i86g, Phebe J. Stanaback,*. 

July, 1870, Elizabeth Ogden, c ; Oct., 1870, Frank M. Cory,* ; Wm. L. Cory, 
Elizabeth Chapin,*; Anna M. Wood, Mrs. Phebe A. Wood, c; January, 1871, 
Lucinda B. Bradbury,* w. of Benj. ; April, 1871, Sibyl Haskell, Lucy Chiches- 
ter, Susan Easton, c; Jane Easton, c.*; Martha Easton, c; Mary Easton, c; 
January, 1872, Sarah J. McKee, w. of Rev. W. B., c; Catherine 0. 
Christy,* w. of Rob. Lance; June, 1872, Ophelia Teats*; July, 1872, 
Ophelia Beardsley, George Whitford, Henry S. Welsh, c; Emily Welsh, 
w. of Henry S., c; January, 1873, Levi Congleton, c; Charlotte Congle- 
ton,* w. of Levi, c; Phebe Congleton,* c; Jane Congleton,* c; July, 
1873, Almira Case,* c; April, 1874, Eliza Van Kirk,* w. of John ; Sam- 
uel B. Hayward, Mary E. Hayward, w. of Samuel ; Mary J. Hayward, Ada 
F. Durling, Phebe Lennington, Josie K. Beardslee, Eugene R. Cory,* ; Mor- 
ford B. Strait, Stef)hen A. Strait, Christina L. Strait, Angelina S. Hotallen, 
w. of Henry,*; April, 1874, Julia A. Adams, c. 

October, 1876, Martha J. Johnson ; July, 1877, Ford W. Rochelle,* ; July, 
1878, Mills Van Kirk, c; Sarah Van Kirk, w. of Mills,* c; Mary B. Tyack, 
w. of Rev. Thos., c. ; Lewis Maines, Lucinda Sutton,* w. of Judson, Sarah 
M. Beatty,* ; January, 1879, Imogene Lyon,* c; July, 1879, Sarah 
Ellen Peters, w. of J. F., c* ; October, 1879, John M. Minion, c, ; Elizabeth 
A. Minion,* w. of John, c. ; David Dennis ; December, 1879, Frank House, *, 
Hannah Coursen,*c. ; Mary A. Praedmore, w. of Johnson,* ; October 1881, 
Joseph H. Van Marter, c. 



l<Hi LIST OF COMMUNICANTS. 

October, 1882. Benjamin D. Potter, c; Mame F. Potter, w. of Benj., c; 
Theo. L. Piillis,*; Mary Pullis, *; Jennio E. Mills,*; Lizzie A. Dunlap,*; 
Laura C. Wilson,* ; Jennie Case,* ; Levi E. Case,* ; John H. Mills,* ; 
James W. Mills,*; Annie H. Morris,*; Sarah Williams,* c ; Theodore G. 
Anderson,* ; Sarah E. Anderson,* w. of Theodore ; David L. Byram,* ; 
Mattie V. Byram,* w. of David L.; Delilah S. Mills,*; Hattie E. Ball,*: 
Ruth Hoppaugh,* ; E. Louisa Holden,* ; Ida May Lanterman,*; Daniel 
Wagner Boss. Abbie J. Lyon,*c.; John Boss, Minerva Cory,* c. ; Jennie T. 
Stanaback,* c; Nora Boss, c; William Barkman,* c. ; Mary G. Kays,* ; 
Benjamin K. Jones ; October, 1884, Thomas Kane, c* ; Jennie D. Kane, w. 
of Thomas,* ; Mary Arno Chambers,* w. of Rev. T. F., c; Jennet M. Sut- 
ton,* c; Mary Sutton,* c; January, 1885, John Chandler,* c. ; Lucy 
Chandler,* w. of John, c; February, 1886, Nils Gunderson,* ; Annie Gun- 
derson, w. of Nils,* ; Orvetta Eva Holden,*; May, 1886, Julia A. Stid- 
worthy,* wife of Jas. ; Emma Grose,* w. of Edward; Ann Chambers,* ; 
November, 1886, Elizabeth P. Beardslee,* ; January, 1887, Mrs. Bertha J. 
Horn beck, * c. ; Jane Carr Rochelle,*; Mary Lane Durling,* w. of Robert 
S.; Belle Neva Woodruff.* 



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